Over the years, various Acts of Congress have altered the number of seats on the Supreme Court, from a low of five to a high of 10. Shortly after the Civil War, the number of seats on the Court was fixed at nine. Today, there is one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Like all federal judges, justices are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. They, typically, hold office for life. The salaries of the justices cannot be decreased during their term of office.
A: The U.S. Constitution has 27 amendments. The first 10, constituting the Bill of Rights, were written in 1791 as part of the original document. The most recent amendment to the Constitution was the 27th Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1992, which regulated congressional pay rates. Continue Reading
According to the Senate Historian, from 1789 through December 16, 2014, about 11,623 measures to amend the Constitution had been proposed. While there are five âotherâ ways in which the U.S. Constitution may be -- and has been -- amended, the Constitution itself spells out the only âofficialâ methods. Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, an amendment may be proposed either by the U.S. Congress or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.