The US President nominates a Supreme Court Justice with Senate approval, and while legal experience is not mandatory, the vetting process is intense. The Senate Judiciary Committee investigates the candidate’s life and judicial activity, including potential biases. Candidates refuse to answer questions regarding how they would vote in a given set of circumstances, and controversial issues such as abortion can lead to the withdrawal of a candidacy. A law degree and a career without controversy are necessary to attract the President’s attention and Senate approval.
When a vacancy occurs on the US Supreme Court, it can be filled only on the nomination of the President of the United States with the approval of the Senate. It is not mandatory, constitutional or otherwise, that a candidate have experience as a judge or even an attorney to become a Supreme Court Justice, even though of the 111 in US history, only 11 did not attend law school, and most of them were in the 18th and 19th centuries, when a law degree was not necessary to practice law. Of the top schools in the US, Harvard Law School has had the most graduates & emdash; 14 & emdash; become a Supreme Court Justice, while Yale Law School has sent 10 of its students to the Supreme Court and Columbia Law School has seven alumni who have become Supreme Court Justices.
Despite the fact that there are no formal requirements for a candidate to become a Supreme Court Justice, the vetting process is very intense, both before and after a presidential nomination. The President’s team will investigate potential candidates as thoroughly as possible in an attempt to uncover and evaluate any potentially harmful information, either on the candidate’s professional career or personal life. The President will also personally interview candidates. Once nominated, the nominee is required to complete an exhaustive questionnaire by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which will hold hearings on the nomination before forwarding it to the full Senate for a ratification vote.
Judicial experience marked the careers of many of those who became a supreme judicial justice, but it is debatable whether this experience helps a candidate’s ratification. As part of the ratification process, a candidate will testify before the Judiciary Committee in what may be considered a very public job interview. The committee will conduct a thorough investigation of the candidate’s life and any judicial activity will be thoroughly explored with the aim of uncovering biases or ideologies that may generate controversy.
For example, a continually controversial issue in the United States is abortion, and during the ratification process, senators try to figure out how the candidate would vote on an abortion case if it made it to the Supreme Court. Candidates, for their part, refuse to answer specifically any questions that attempt to determine how they would vote in a given set of circumstances, insisting that doing so would compromise their impartiality should such a case actually arise, thereby compromising the integrity of the judicial process. If the candidate has ever sat as a judge in a case involving abortion, however, the potential for one side or the other to try to use that case and the candidate’s position on it to destroy the nomination may be reason enough to withdraw the candidacy. refer or offer it to someone first.
Thus, someone desiring to become a supreme court justice must first obtain a law degree from a law school and then pursue a career devoid of controversy, hoping to attract the attention and admiration of the president without causing the displeasure of many. senators.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
