The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Established by Article III of the Constitution,the detailed structure of the court was laid down by the 1st United States Congress in 1789. Congress specified the Court's original and appellate jurisdiction,created 13 judicial districts,and fixed the initial size of the Supreme Court. The number of justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869. As of June 2022,a total of 116 justices have served on the Supreme Court since 1789. Justices have life tenure,and so they serve until they die in office,resign or retire,or are impeached and removed from office.
Clement Furman Haynsworth Jr. was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was also an unsuccessful nominee for the United States Supreme Court in 1969.
Jean Hoefer Toal is an American former judge who was a chief justice of the Supreme Court of South Carolina. She was the first woman and the first Roman Catholic to serve as chief justice. In 2013,she became the first chief justice on the Supreme Court of South Carolina since the 1800s to have an opponent run against her. Toal has continued to serve in the judiciary as a senior judge since her retirement from the Supreme Court.
The University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law,also known as South Carolina Law School,is a professional school within the University of South Carolina. Founded in 1867,it is the only public and non-profit law school in South Carolina. It has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1925 and a member of the Association of American Law Schools since 1924.
C. Bradley Hutto is an American politician currently serving as a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate,representing Senate District 40 since 1996. He is the Democratic Minority Leader in the Senate,succeeding Nikki Setzler on November 17,2020.
Speculation abounded over potential nominations to the Supreme Court of the United States by Ronald Reagan even before his presidency officially began,due to the advanced ages of several justices,and Reagan's own highlighting of Supreme Court nominations as a campaign issue. Reagan had promised "to appoint only those opposed to abortion and the 'judicial activism' of the Warren and Burger Courts". Conversely,some opposed to Reagan argued that he could "appoint as many as five Justices" and would "use the opportunity to stack the Court against women,minorities and social justice".
James Arthur Beaty Jr. is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina,and a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Greg Gerard Guidry is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. He is a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Julianna Michelle Childs is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 2010 to 2022 and a judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court from 2006 to 2010.
Lucy Haeran Koh is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2010 to 2021. She also served as a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the United States.
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated over 400 individuals for federal judgeships during his presidency. Of these nominations,Congress confirmed 329 judgeships,173 during the 111th &112th Congresses and 156 during the 113th and 114th Congresses.
Jesse Matthew Furman is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
John W. Kittredge is the chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Theodore David Chuang is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and former deputy general counsel of the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Michael P. Boggs is an American lawyer who has served as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia since 2022. He concurrently serves as an associate justice of the court since 2017. He is a former judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals and a former nominee to be a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Governor Nathan Deal.
Joan Louise Larsen is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She previously was an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 2015 to 2017.
Pennsylvania held statewide elections on November 3,2015,to fill judicial positions,to fill a vacancy in the Pennsylvania State Senate,to allow judicial retention votes,and to fill numerous county,local and municipal offices.
Donald Cecil Coggins Jr. is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.
Thomas Tullidge Cullen is an American lawyer who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia since 2020. He served as a United States attorney for the same district from 2018 to 2020.
Letitia Hamilton Verdin is an Associate Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
