Sessions of the United States Supreme Court

Sessions of Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States was established in 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The size of the court has fluctuated due to addmiting of states and Congressional Acts.

In order to be on the Supreme Court a Justice must be nominated by the President and approved by the Senate. In the court there is one Chief Justice and anywhere from five to nine Associate Justices.

A session of the court is determined by changes in the court. When a justice retires or an empty seat is created due to court expansion, the session ends. A new session begins when a justice is nominated and confirmed.

Judiciary act of 1789
Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the Supreme Court was limited to six seats.

Note: Bold names are new justices. They are underneath the justice they replace. Italics means the justice left without being replaced

Court after 1807
In 1807 the Congress increased the number of Justices to seven due to geographical expansion.

Court after 1837
The Congress again enlarged the court to nine justices due to expansion.

Court after 1863
This was the last of the Supreme Court expansions.

Judiciary Act of 1869
In 1866 Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase requested that the next three justices retire without being replaced. After only two justices retired, the Judiciary Act of 1869 raised the number of judges to nine, where it is at today.