The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation. The court has a duty to ensure the American people equal justice, and serve as the guardian of the U.S. Constitution.
The constitution does not lay out how many justices there must be in the Supreme Court, but since 1869, there have been nine, including the chief.
The current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is John G. Roberts, Jr. The associate justices are Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
There is no fixed term for Supreme Court justices. They serve until their death or retirement. They can also be stripped from their role if they are convicted by the Senate.The power to nominate Supreme Court justices lies with the President of the United States.
Some of the most well-known Supreme Court cases in U.S. history include Brown v. Board of Education, Marbury v. Madison, Miranda v. Arizona and Roe v. Wade, a case that was overturned in 2022.
