Short answer: Supreme Court justices in the United States are appointed for life, i.e., they serve lifetime tenure unless they resign, retire, die, or are removed through impeachment. Details and context
- Legal basis: Article III of the U.S. Constitution establishes lifetime appointments for federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. This means no fixed term length and no mandatory retirement age is specified in the Constitution. [source: general constitutional knowledge confirmed by official judiciary and civics references]
- Practical consequences: Because tenure is for life, vacancies arise only when a justice leaves the Court for one of the above reasons, which can lead to long periods without turnover and potentially dramatic shifts in Court composition when vacancies do occur. [supporting discussions from judicial summaries and analyses]
- Notable points:
- The longest-serving Chief Justice in U.S. history is John Marshall, who served about 34 years in that role. Individual justices have served varying lengths, with some terms extending over multiple decades. [historical summaries and official court histories]
- While some observers advocate for term limits or retirement rules to increase turnover and accountability, the current framework remains lifetime appointments for Supreme Court justices. [policy analyses and comparative discussions]
If you’d like, I can summarize how lifetime tenure compares to proposed reforms (like fixed terms or age-based retirement) and provide a concise overview of arguments for and against each approach.
