【美国精神】第39期

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Explanation:

  The Supreme¹ Court, which is the most important court in the United States, has changed in many ways since it was first founded (or created) in 1790. When the Supreme Court first began, there were only six justices (or the judges who work on the Supreme Court). This number changed six times, but since 1869 there have always been nine justices. 

  Supreme Court justices are appointed (or given their positions by people who work in politics). First they are nominated², which is when the president selects or picks them and says that this is the person who should get the job. Then they are rejected or accepted by the U.S. Senate³. Justices are not rejected very often. In fact, only 12 nominees⁴ have ever been rejected as Supreme Court justices. All the others have been confirmed (or approved when at least half of the Senate members voted for them). The leader of these nine justices is called the Chief Justice; the other eight are called Associate Justices.

  When justices are confirmed (or approved), then they are appointed for life, meaning that once they become a justice they can never be forced to leave. Also, their salary (or the amount of money they make each year) can never be reduced (or made less). Because of this, the justices never have to worry about losing their jobs or losing money if they vote the wrong way or make a decision the president or other people don’t like. This is a good thing, because it means that they can rule (or make legal decisions) based on their beliefs and not to please the current president.

  Because the justices serve (or work in this public job) for life, the Supreme Court has a very low turnover⁵ rate. The turnover rate is how often old people leave and new people take their place in an organization. Most of the justices serve (or work) for many, many years, often until they die or decide that they want to retire (or stop working to enjoy their old age). Since 1790, there have been only 16 Chief Justices and 97 Associate Justices. On average (or typically), they serve 15 years. Because of this, the Supreme Court has a lot of continuity⁶ (or consistency⁷ over time).

 

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