Can anyone serve as a US Supreme Court justice even if he or she is not a lawyer?

Answer 1

The technical answer is no, there are no Constitutional or legislative qualifications for US Supreme Court justices.

All 112 past and present Supreme Court justices have been lawyers, although those who served in the early days of the Court learned the law by reading and apprenticing with more experienced attorneys because there were few law schools back then.

There have been some lawyers who were never judges appointed, most famously, Earl Warren. Eisenhower appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1953 to thank him for his support in CA during the Republican primaries. Warren was an ex-state Attorney General and an extremely popular governor of CA, but he had never been a judge. He went on to become one of the most active Chief Justices ever, greatly expanding legal protections, especially for minorities (e.g. Brown v. Board of Education, 1954) and criminal defendants (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966).

Answer 2

The Constitution has no specific requirements to be appointed to the Supreme Court. However, most Presidents have appointed judges who have had previous legal experience. Many Justices served as members of Congress, governors, or members of the Cabinet. The process of becoming a Justice starts with the President who nominates a person to be Supreme Court Justice. The nominee must be approved by the Senate. The Senate Judiciary Committee reviews the nominee and then gives its recommendation to the full Senate. The nominee must receive a majority of the Senate votes to become a justice. Justices serve for lifetime.

Answer 3

The US Constitution does NOT list anyqualifications or requirements for appointment to the Supreme Court. The Framers believed the President and Senate should set their own selection criteria.

Although Supreme Court justices aren't required to have law degrees, all 112 have been lawyers. Many of the earlier justices "read law" under the supervision of a practicing attorney when the US had no (or only a few) established law schools. At one time, attorneys were permitted to practice if they could pass their state bar exam, regardless of how they acquired their legal knowledge. [Seven states still allow law-office study instead of law school: California, Maine, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.]

All the justices appointed since the mid-20th century have held law degrees, many from Ivy League institutions. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed the last two Supreme Court justices without law degrees (although both were licensed attorneys): Robert H. Jackson, who served from 1941-1954, and Stanley Forman Reed, who served from 1938-1957.

• Of the 112 Supreme Court members, only 47 have held degrees from accredited law schools; 18 attended law school, but never attained a degree; and 47 were self-taught and/or went through an apprenticeship.

• The first Justice to graduate from law school was Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Harvard class of 1832, appointed to the bench in 1851.

• The last sitting Justice without a formal law degree was Stanley Forman Reed, who served from 1938-1957.

As to why a law degree was not stipulated in the Constitution, the answer is most likely a practical one: at the time of the writing of the Constitution, the vast majority of attorneys and judges had never been to law school. Law schools were few and very limited in size, and tradition had not yet changed where a law degree was considered superior to an apprenticeship for legal training.

For more information, see Related Questions, below.

Answer 4

Although neither the constitution nor federal law prohibits non-citizens from serving on the US Supreme Court, it's unlikely the President would ever nominate a non-citizen to the Court or that the Senate would approve such a nomination. In practice, yes, you would undoubtedly have to be a citizen.

Answer 5

Probably not as early appointees were not licensed attorneys. However, it would be extremely difficult for a non-lawyer to function as a supreme ct justice given the complexity of cases and constitutional issues that arise.

Answer 6

Yes, a judge has a juris doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school. Most judges begin their careers as practicing lawyers. To become a judge, a lawyer must be appointed or elected. Generally, those who are nominated to be judges have a strong history of legal practice (i.e., many years as a lawyer) and support from politicians and other influential people.

Answer 7

No. In most cases there is no requirement for a judge to have a law degree or be a member of the bar. However, being able to effectively do the job without having a law degree can be very difficult and it is seldom found. People don't like to vote for someone without a law degree to make rulings on the law. People that appoint judges don't like to do it either.

Answer 8

They are usually lawyers or judges who used to be lawyers. I don't think its a requierment but I could be wrong.

Answer 9

The constitution does not require that a Supreme Court justice be a lawyer or have gone to law school, but if you want to today then you would most certainly have to go to law school.