Since the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the topic of appointing replacement justice has made news again. This is nothing new -- Supreme Court appointments have been matters of tremendous importance to American law almost since the inception of the United States.


Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

In this article, we'll find out how Supreme Court justices are nominated, who is qualified to serve and how a nominee is approved. We'll also try to sort out the complicated politics that come into play when a justice is nominated.