All about the Supreme Court

What does the Supreme Court do?

Each state government and the federal United States government have a Supreme Court.

The U.S. Supreme Court is responsible for reviewing lower court rulings and interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

For example, in the case Mapp v. Ohio (1961), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for prosecutors to use evidence that was obtained without a search warrant.

State Supreme Courts are responsible for reviewing lower court rulings only from their own state courts. State Supreme Courts also interpret their state Constitutions. Rulings in a state Supreme Court may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for final review.

For example, in Claremont v. New Hampshire (1993) the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the New Hampshire Constitution guarantees students a right to a public education (which the state was not providing).

Who picks Supreme Court Justices?

The U.S. president nominates Supreme Court Justices, who must be confirmed by a majority vote in the U.S. Senate.

The New Hampshire governor nominates state Supreme Court Justices, with confirmation from a majority of the Executive Council. Learn more about the Executive Council here.

Who serves on the U.S. Supreme Court?

The U.S. Supreme Court has nine justices:

• John G. Roberts, Jr. (Chief Justice)
  Nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005, Roberts began his term at the relatively young age of 50. He is known as a moderate conservative.
• Clarence Thomas
  Thomas was appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and is known as the court’s most conservative justice. In 2025 Thomas is also the oldest justice on the court, 77 years old.
• Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
  Alito was appointed by George W. Bush after Chief Justice Roberts, joining the bench in 2006. He is a conservative justice and wrote the landmark opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
• Sonia Sotomayor
  Sotomayor is the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by Barack Obama in 2009 and usually sides with the liberal justices on the court.
• Elena Kagan
  Kagan did not have experience as a judge before Barack Obama appointed her to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010. She is often seen as a moderate liberal on the court.
• Neil Gorsuch
  Gorsuch was the first Supreme Court Justice appointed by Donald Trump, in 2017. He is a conservative judge who supports textualism (interpreting laws through the plain meaning of the text, rather than context) and originalism (interpreting laws based on their original intent).
• Brett Kavanaugh
  Kavanaugh was appointed by Donald Trump in 2018, after contentious hearings about allegations of sexual assault. As the court has become more conservative, Kavanaugh has been viewed as a swing vote in some decisions.
• Amy Coney Barrett
  Barrett is the youngest justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, age 53 in 2025. She was appointed by Donald Trump in 2020. While she is a conservative, she has said, “I’m nobody’s justice,” meaning she is committed to her principles over any political party.
• Ketanji Brown Jackson
  Jackson is the first African American woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was appointed by Joe Biden in 2022 and is known as a consistently liberal justice.

How long do U.S. Supreme Court Justices serve?

U.S. Supreme Court Justices serve for life, with no term limits. Some choose to leave early, such as Justice David Souter, who retired at age 69 to New Hampshire. Others die while in service. For example, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was still on the court when she passed away at age 87.

A Supreme Court Justice can only be removed if the U.S. House of Representatives votes to impeach, and two-thirds of the U.S. Senate votes to convict a Justice of “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

The U.S. House voted to impeach Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase in 1805, but he was acquitted by the Senate. The U.S. House has not voted to impeach any other Justice.

Who serves on the New Hampshire Supreme Court?

The New Hampshire Supreme Court has five justices:

• Gordon MacDonald (Chief Justice) 
  MacDonald served as New Hampshire Attorney General before Governor Chris Sununu nominated him to the New Hampshire Supreme Court in 2021. In 2025, MacDonald turned 64 years old.
• Patrick Donovan
  Donovan was an Assistant Attorney General and private practice lawyer before he was nominated by Governor Chris Sununu in 2018. In 2025 he turned 61 years old, the second-youngest Justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
• Melissa Countway
  Countway was nominated by Chris Sununu right before he left the Governor’s office in 2024. She is the first Circuit Court judge to join the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and in 2025 she was the youngest Justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court at just 54 years old.
• Bryan Gould
  Gould is Governor Kelly Ayotte’s first nominee for the New Hampshire Supreme Court. He has served as special counsel both to New Hampshire Governor Craig Benson and to the New Hampshire Executive Council, but most of his experience is in private practice. In 2025 Gould turned 67 years old, three years shy of mandatory judicial retirement.
• Daniel Will
  Will's nomination was approved by the Executive Council in February 2026. Will previously served as the state’s first solicitor general, which included defending the governor's emergency orders during the COVID-19 pandemic. That work led some conservatives to oppose his nomination. He was 59 years-old when nominated to the Supreme Court.

How long do New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices serve?

New Hampshire Supreme Court Justices do not have terms, but the state Constitution requires all judges to retire at age 70.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives can vote to impeach a Justice for “bribery, corruption, malpractice or maladministration, in office.” A majority of the New Hampshire Senate may then vote to remove a Justice from the court.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives has voted twice to impeach state Supreme Court Justices, but the Senate has never voted to convict a Justice.