Supreme Court is made up of only 9 judges called justices who aren’t democratically elected - they’re nominated by the President & confirmed by the Senate - and serve for life.

Different than other branches:

- Legislative branch is made up of 535 democratically elected members of Congress

- Executive branch is headed by a democratically elected President limited to only two 4-year terms

Supreme Court Justices & Judicial Independence

These constitutional protections allow judges to make unpopular decisions without fear of losing their jobs or having their pay cut. For example, the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 declared racial segregation in the public schools to be unconstitutional. This decision was unpopular with large segments of society at that time. Some members of Congress even wanted to replace the judges who made the decision, but the Constitution wouldn’t let them.