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- Next Gallery
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Justices of the US Supreme Court gather for a portrait in Washington in 2010. Seated, from (l.), are Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Associate Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Standing, from (l.), are Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito Jr., and Elena Kagan. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/File
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President Bush announces federal appeals court judge John G. Roberts Jr. as his nomination to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in Washington on June 19, 2005. Mr. Roberts, Bush's first nominee to the Supreme Court, is a rock-solid conservative who has won broad support from both parties. APTN/AP/File
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President Ronald Reagan gestures during a news conference at the White House where he announced the nomination of Antonin Scalia (l.) to the Supreme Court on June 17, 1986. Chief Justice William Rehnquist is at right. Widely regarded as the court's leading intellectual and often described as a gentleman, Mr. Scalia also is the court's most provocative, and sometimes petulant, justice. Ron Edmonds/AP/File
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Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to replace Lewis Powell Jr. after Robert Bork was rejected by the Senate and Douglas Ginsberg withdrew. Mr. Kennedy has been known as the court's swing vote during politically charged decisions, leaning to the right more often than not. However, he is not ideological, and looks at each case individually. Charles Dharapak/AP/File
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Associate Justice Clarence Thomas succeeded Thurgood Marshall in 1991 after prevailing through confirmation hearings that had become embroiled in a sexual harassment controversy. Mr. Thomas is known as one of the most conservative justices. He maintains silence during oral arguments and has said, 'One thing I’ve demonstrated often in 16 years is you can do this job without asking a single question.' Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP/File
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Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993. Despite being denied a clerkship position by Justice Felix Frankfurter in 1960 because of her gender, Ms. Ginsburg went on to be the second woman serve on the Court after Sandra Day O'Connor. Considered to be a liberal, she spent much of her pre-Court career as an advocate of women's rights. Jim Young/Reuters
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Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994. Mr. Breyer has consistently voted in support of abortion rights and is in favor of gun control. He attended Oxford University, is married to a member of the British aristocracy, and is fluent in French. Jim Young/Reuters
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Associate Justice Samuel Alito Jr. has been described as a conservative jurist with a libertarian streak. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006 and has been a member of the Federalist Society, a group of conservatives and libertarian lawyers and legal students interested in conservative legal theory. Charles Dharapak/AP/File
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Associate Justice Sonya Sotomayor hails from Bronx, N.Y. and is the first Hispanic justice to serve on the Court (she self-identifies as 'Nuyorican' – a New Yorker of Puerto Rican descent). Ms. Sotomayor was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009. She attended Princeton on full scholarship and has said she was inspired to pursue a legal career and become a judge by watching the Perry Mason television series. Ron Jordan Natoli Studio/2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals/AP/File
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President Obama applauds Elena Kagan during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Aug. 6, 2010, after her confirmation as Supreme Court justice by the Senate. Ms. Kagan is the first justice appointed without any prior experience as a judge since William Rehnquist in 1972. She served as Solicitor General to President Obama from 2009 - 2010. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP/File
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The Senate committee's vote comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear five and a half hours of argument in March in a challenge to President Obama’s health-care reform law.
By
Warren Richey, Staff writer /
February 9, 2012
J. Scott Applewhite/AP