Becoming a Supreme Court Justice

As a Supreme Court Justice, you must be an expert in the laws of the United States. That doesn't mean that you have to have them all memorized; there are too many for that, especially with state variations thrown in. A Supreme Court Justice has access to law clerks as personal assistants and access to a vast legal library. But Justices must know how to research legal matters expertly and how to expertly sort out conflicting legal rulings. They must be experts in the Constitution as well. All of the Justices have formerly been attorneys and in their unorthodox Court hearings they grill the visiting attorneys like attorneys themselves!

Now, one of the perils of aspiring to be a Supreme Court Justice is the politicization of the job. While it is very important that you have political experience going back to as young an age as possible if you want to become a Court nominee, you are supposed to be above politics, in a sense. There aren't supposed to be "liberal" or "conservative" Justices, and the Justices are not supposed to legislate their feelings or ideals. They are only supposed to interpret whether or not U.S. law has been properly or improperly applied to a case in a lower court. The greatest exemplar of this true use of Justice power may have been Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. He was known for making rulings in the Court that went against his own personal feelings about matters. We know he did this from his written opinions and, even more, from his personal letters of correspondence with friends. Whenever he did this, Holmes did so to uphold what he felt was even more important than his own feelings: the integrity of the Constitution. The Constitution gives the power to write new laws and repeal old ones to the Congress, with the final approval of the President. No court of law has this power.

Yet, we know that Presidents nominate Justices based on their political leanings, and we know that some Justices are "liberal" while others are "moderate" and others "conservative." You should strive to not get caught up in this political process if you want to be a noble Justice.

Justices are appointed for life or until they choose to retire. The president nominates a Justice and the Senate must approve the nomination. The president usually gets his way. Out of 148 nominations, only 12 have ever been struck down by the Senate, although some others have refused the nomination or withdrawn from it voluntarily.

All of the Supreme Court Justices of the last 150+ years have been attorneys first and distinguished themselves in this way. Then they become judges in lower courts such as appellate courts and circuit courts and further distinguished themselves. They have also attended high-quality law schools.

So, you should attend these schools with an eye toward a legal or political science career. Do well and form strong relationships with your professors so that they can help recommend you later on. Be active in political groups. Research the lives and careers of other Supreme Court Justices and see how they made it into their robes.