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Why is there an odd number of justices on the US Supreme Court?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
One possible reason (amongst many presumably) are that any vote taken by the justices can never result in a tie - a decision will always be made one way or the other.
In 1869, Congress passed a law that fixed the number of Supreme Court justices at 9. The US Constitution creates "one supreme court" but does not specify how many justices there should be. That is up to Congress to decide. The number of justices is an usually an odd number so that there would be no tie votes. Why there are 9 though is a matter of practicality based on the workload of the Supreme Court. The first Supreme Court had 6 justices, then it changed to 5, then to 7 then to 9 then to 10 then to 7 again and then back to 9.
The original U.S. Supreme Court had only six Justices; that number has changed several times over the years.
- Judiciary Act of 1789: Court size 6
- Judiciary Act of 1801: Court size, 5
- Repeal Act of 1802: Court size, 6
- Seventh Circuit Act of 1807: Court size, 7
- Judiciary Act of 1837: Court size, 9
- Tenth Circuit Act of 1863: Court size, 10
- Judicial Circuit Act of 1866: Court size, 7
- Habeas Corpus Act of 1867: Court size, 8
- Judiciary Act of 1869: Court size, 9
Most likely, the current court has an odd number of Justices to prevent an evenly split decision. The number may have expanded to nine because the caseload has increased over the years, and not all Justices elect to review petitions for writ of certiorari (requests for a case to be reviewed by the court).
The number was temporarily reduced from ten to seven during Andrew Johnson's term of office, because Congress didn't want him to have an opportunity to appoint new justices. The size of the Court was increased to nine rather than ten (most likely to avoid tie votes) when Ulysses S. Grant was elected.
Congress always had reasons for changing the size of the Court -- whether to allow a sitting President more or less influence, or to adjust the Court's workload, but their purpose isn't always easy to determine.
The last time this was seriously proposed was during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. However, Roosevelt's plan (which would have ultimately allowed for up to 15 justices) was so obviously an attempt to pack the court with those whose political ideology agreed with his own that it was a political disaster for him. As it was, 8 of the 9 justices on the Court (including the Chief Justice) were Roosevelt appointees by 1941.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Wiki User
∙ 14y agoAnswer
This is most likely because of the ease when making judicial rulings. If there is an odd number of judges, then there will rarely be a tie vote. This can only occur when judges decide to abstain from voting.
Answer
Most likely, the current court has an odd number of Justices to prevent an evenly split decision. The number may have expanded to nine because the caseload has increased over the years, and not all Justices elect to review petitions for writ of certiorari (requests for a case to be reviewed by the court).
This solution works well most of the time; however, justices sometimes need to recuse themselves from hearing a case, or are ill or otherwise unable to attend oral arguments. This may leave the Court with an even number of members hearing the case. If there is a tie vote, as has occurred on a few occasions (at least once on a motion, once on a writ, and once on a case), the justices have the option of allowing the decision of the lower court to stand or of having the case reargued when the missing justice(s) are available.
The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist used to abstain from voting except in cases where there was a tie, then he would cast the deciding vote. This had the effect of ensuring the conservative members of the Court always won a split decision.
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoThe Supreme Court of the United States seats nine justices. Some states may seat seven or even fewer. Congress determines the number of justices primarily on the basis of how many they believe are needed to handle the Court's caseload and other responsibilities.The number of US Supreme Court justices has not changed since the Judiciary Act of 1869.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago"Justice" is just a high-falutin' term for "judge." In the early days of the Court, there was a desire to establish the significance of the federal judiciary. And let's face it, at that point in time, there were oodles of judges in small courts in the plentiful counties among the states.
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What does a Supreme Court judge do?
The Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court interpret the law. When we say "the Court" (meaning the U.S. Supreme Court), we mean the Justices of the Supreme Court. The Court (the Justices) decide "sticking points" in law and hand down a "final" decision on the matter. In general, the U.S. Supreme Court (collectively) will decide which cases to hear, and this from among those brought up to it. The Court (the Justices) review the particulars of each case, and then hear or decline to hear that case. For cases that are heard, the Court will review what has been done in the lower courts, and will consider new material presented to it. At the end of the presentation of all material, the Court will review all that is before them on a given case, and each justice will take a side and decide the case. The Court may split with "half" the Justices on one side and "half" on the other side. (There are an odd number of Justices, so there are no "ties" to be reckoned with.) Then a majority opinion and a minority opinion will be rendered. The cases heard by the Court allow the Court to offer final adjudication of the case, and set precedents in law. Supreme Court Justices hear a limited number of cases on final appeal, and interpret the law relative to the United States Constitution. They also have Original Jurisdiction (first court) over conflicts between the states. They judge certain court cases that usually improve the U.S. and make history. One of the most famous cases was "Brown vs. (The) Board of Education." They are also responsible for interpreting the Constitution and federal law, and monitoring how those rules are applied in the real world. Their main functions are to interpret the Constitution and to examine challenged laws to ensure they comply with constitutional mandates.
How is the size of the senate determind?
Congress is determined by the number of states and the population of the states. Every ten years, a census of the population is done and Congressional committees act upon that information to increase or decrease the number of districts.
Why are US Supreme Court justices assigned to the intermediate US Courts of Appeals Circuits?
Each Justice is assigned one or more Circuits over which he or she is responsible for emergency petitions, stays, and certain other administrative duties that may require quick action from the Supreme Court. It is more expedient for a single justice to determine the disposition of certain motions than for the entire bench to convene, debate and vote on mundane issues (especially those that arise at odd hours).If the justice presiding over a particular Circuit believes circumstances of a motion or petition warrant the attention of the Court, he or she can present the matter for review.
Has there ever been a tie vote on the US Supreme Court?
AnswerIn general, appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, are designed to avoid tie votes. Every appellate court in America, whether it be a state court or a federal court, is made up of an odd number of judges and/or justices. Moreover, before an en banc opinion from any appellate court takes on precedential value, a simple majority of the judges or justices seated on that court must vote for that opinion. Otherwise, the opinion is what is known as a plurality opinion.With regard to the U.S. Supreme Court, plurality opinions are recorded and published so they do become part of jurisprudential history. Moreover, even though they do not technically provide hard precedential value, inferior courts often choose to follow the plurality opinion as if it were binding precedent.AnswerYes. There have been a number of US Supreme Court votes that resulted in a tie due to a justice's voluntary recusal or illness, or a vacancy on the bench. An article published in the March 22, 2005 issue of Journal of Appellate Practice and Process, "Recusals and the 'Problem' of an Equally Divided Supreme Court," cited a 57-Term study of decisions made following voluntary recusal of a justice. Of the 608 cases investigated, 49, or approximately 8.1%, ended in a 4-4 deadlock resolved by "Affirmance by an Equally Divided Court," leaving the decision of the lower appellate court standing without resolving the constitutional conflict.While it is easier to find anecdotal accounts than specific case names, historical records indicate tie votes occur more often than most people realize.For example, during the year that elapsed between Justice Abe Fortas' 1969 resignation and Justice Harry Blackmun's eventual appointment, the remaining eight justices deadlocked on twenty cases, all later reargued and resolved.In 1985, when Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., missed 56 oral arguments due to illness, thirteen cases ended in 4-4 votes, defaulting to affirmance in eight cases and reargument of five before the full court.More recently, the Rehnquist Court returned an affirmance by an equally divided court in Borden Ranch Partnership v. US Army Corps of Engineers, 537 US 99 (2002), an important challenge to the Clean Water Act. The Roberts Court achieved the same result in Warner-Lambert v. Kent, 552 US ___ (2008) when Chief Justice Roberts recused himself due to conflict of interest because he owned stock in Warner-Lambert's parent company, Pfizer.The Supreme Court may exercise one of two options when unable to reach a majority opinion: 1) Affirmance by an equally divided court, which allows the decision of the lower court to stand in judgment without resolving the conflict; or 2) Reargument at a later date, preferably before the full court, which allows a final determination.Affirmance, which carries no precedential weight, presents a thorny problem for the legal community in that it may leave Circuit splits (differing decisions between federal appellate courts on substantially similar issues) or important constitutional questions undefined for years. In most instances, these problems are eventually addressed when the Court grants certiorari on a later case that raises comparable questions.
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How man Supreme Court justice are there?
Currently, there are nine justices. It is an odd number in order to prevent ties when voting on cases.
For the majority ruling on the Supreme Court there needs to be at least justices who agree?
For a majority ruling on the Supreme Court, a minimum of five out of the nine justices must agree. This is because a majority decision requires more than half of the justices to support a particular outcome or opinion. It is necessary to have a majority in order to establish a binding decision for the Court.
Why are there an odd number of justice on the supreme court?
to prevent a tie when voting on a case
Why is there an odd number of Justices?
It is difficult to get a tie with an odd number of voters.
Why are there eight Associate Justices on the US Supreme Court?
Congress decided to set the size of the Supreme Court at nine, with eight Associate Justices and one Chief Justice, in the Judiciary Act of 1869. While the exact reason they chose this number is unknown, the most likely answer is that Congress knew the Court needed an odd number of justices to help avoid tie votes, and probably believed nine justices were enough to handle the federal appellate caseload. As the US population continued to grow, the government kept the size of the Court at nine and made adjustments to the workload by adding the US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts in 1891, and by gradually reducing the Court's mandatory appellate jurisdiction to fit the size of the Court.
Why is there an odd number of supreme court jutices?
With an odd number of justices, every vote is going to come to a result, with one side having more votes than the other; with an even number, you could have a vote that is evenly split, and which therefore fails to decide the issue upon which they are voting.
Why are there an odd number of justices?
So that there will never be a tie.
What is the reason the farmers of the constitution wanted an odd number of justices?
So there wouldn't be ties.
What does a Supreme Court judge do?
The Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court interpret the law. When we say "the Court" (meaning the U.S. Supreme Court), we mean the Justices of the Supreme Court. The Court (the Justices) decide "sticking points" in law and hand down a "final" decision on the matter. In general, the U.S. Supreme Court (collectively) will decide which cases to hear, and this from among those brought up to it. The Court (the Justices) review the particulars of each case, and then hear or decline to hear that case. For cases that are heard, the Court will review what has been done in the lower courts, and will consider new material presented to it. At the end of the presentation of all material, the Court will review all that is before them on a given case, and each justice will take a side and decide the case. The Court may split with "half" the Justices on one side and "half" on the other side. (There are an odd number of Justices, so there are no "ties" to be reckoned with.) Then a majority opinion and a minority opinion will be rendered. The cases heard by the Court allow the Court to offer final adjudication of the case, and set precedents in law. Supreme Court Justices hear a limited number of cases on final appeal, and interpret the law relative to the United States Constitution. They also have Original Jurisdiction (first court) over conflicts between the states. They judge certain court cases that usually improve the U.S. and make history. One of the most famous cases was "Brown vs. (The) Board of Education." They are also responsible for interpreting the Constitution and federal law, and monitoring how those rules are applied in the real world. Their main functions are to interpret the Constitution and to examine challenged laws to ensure they comply with constitutional mandates.
How is the size of the senate determind?
Congress is determined by the number of states and the population of the states. Every ten years, a census of the population is done and Congressional committees act upon that information to increase or decrease the number of districts.
Why does the court have an odd number of justice?
The intention was that they could not reach a tie in their judgement.
Why are US Supreme Court justices assigned to the intermediate US Courts of Appeals Circuits?
Each Justice is assigned one or more Circuits over which he or she is responsible for emergency petitions, stays, and certain other administrative duties that may require quick action from the Supreme Court. It is more expedient for a single justice to determine the disposition of certain motions than for the entire bench to convene, debate and vote on mundane issues (especially those that arise at odd hours).If the justice presiding over a particular Circuit believes circumstances of a motion or petition warrant the attention of the Court, he or she can present the matter for review.
