What are the components of the judicial branch?
The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. The lower courts include the U.S. Courts of Appeals, U.S. District Courts and U.S. Bankruptcy Courts. Other state and local courts are also part of the legal system. Who serves on the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices. John Roberts serves as chief justice of the United States. The current associate justices are John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Steven G. Breyer. Justices are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. Justices are appointed for life. Changes at the Supreme Court On September 3, 2005, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died at the age of 80. On September 5, President George W. Bush nominated Judge John Roberts to succeed Rehnquist as chief justice of the United States. Roberts was originally nominated to repl
