If Kavanaugh were disbarred, could he serve on the supreme court???? nt

[LAS14]

[jaysunb]

1. You don't have to be a lawyer to serve on the court n/t

[hlthe2b]

2. Yes. Not all SCOTUS have been lawyers though in recent history they have

Associate Justice James F. Byrnes, whose short tenure lasted from June 1941 to October 1942, was the last Justice without a law degree to be appointed; Stanley Forman Reed, who served on the Court from 1938 to 1957, was the last sitting Justice from such a background.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_attended_by_United_States_Supreme_Court_Justices

[Snake Plissken]

3. Yes, if there are enough corrupt politicians in office to prevent an impeachment

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Theoretically, yes.

You don't need a law license to be a judge. You don't even have to ever have been a lawyer to be on the Supreme Court.

[Demovictory9]

5. yes and he'd be even more angry

[marble falls]

6. No.

[LAS14]

7. What is your evidence, in light of posts 1-5? nt

[marble falls]

8. Has there ever been a disbarred attorney sent to the Surpreme Court ...

has there ever been a nominee sent to the SC in the middle of disbarment proceedings?

I can't find any. Can you?

[LAS14]

9. They seem to think that it's possible...

[jberryhill]

12. A state bar authority is not going to have veto power over who can be a federal judge

The qualifications to be on the Supreme Court are:

1. Nominated by the President, and
2. Consented to by the Senate.

So, no, the Supreme Court of (any state), which is usually the principal attorney licensing authority does not get to essentially say, “No, that person can’t be a federal judge.”

If a person has met 1 and 2 above, they may be removed from office by impeachment and, again, the state of (fill in the blank) doesn’t get to pull someone off the federal bench.

[tritsofme]

13. The question isn't asking if it ever happened before

But if he “could” serve on the court.

The answer is yes, the Constitution does not list bar membership as an eligibility requirement for Supreme Court justices, as others have pointed out, being a lawyer is not a requirement either.

[WillowTree]

14. Take a gander at the Constitution.

Practically anyone could, theoretically be a Supreme Court Justice as there are no constitutional requirements. Really. None. Not a legal background or age or even US citizenship.

Honest. It's in there. Or, actually, it isn't in there. You can look it up!

[AncientGeezer]

10. Actually it's Yes...very unlikely but it's absolutely a possibility and..

Constitutionally allowed.

[WePurrsevere]

11. Very unlikely but theoretically, yes since the Constitution doesn't state...

Any requirements that a SCOTUS justice must have.

I looked it up to be sure and found this...

https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-u-s-supreme-court

3. There are no official qualifications for becoming a Supreme Court justice.
The Constitution spells out age, citizenship and residency requirements for becoming president of the United States or a member of Congress but mentions no rules for joining the nation’s highest court.

[TomSlick]

15. I think the more interesting question is whether a federal judge can be disbarred.

I see real federalism questions with a state supreme court (or unified bar) having the power to disbar a federal judge. I sincerely doubt a state supreme court could cause a federal judge to be removed by disbarment. The only way to remove a federal judge, at any level, is by impeachment.

[Ms. Toad]

16. You're answering a different question than you asked.

Can a federal judge be disbarred - yes. Just as any attorney can (assuming he had a law license to start with).

You answered: can a state supreme court remove a federal judge by disbarrment - no. While the state supreme court can disbar a judge, disbarrment has nothing to do with service as a federal judge. Removal of a federal judge is not under the control of a state supreme court.

[TomSlick]

17. I'm clear a federal judge cannot be removed by disbarment by a state.

I seriously question that a state court or bar can disbar a federal judge. There are nasty federalism questions raised. If a state supreme court disbarred a federal judge, could the federal judge find the state supreme court in contempt - and send the US Marshal out to take them into custody?

This is all just too ugly and complex to consider. I simply cannot imagine any state moving to disbar a federal judge.

[Ms. Toad]

18. There are no federalism questions involved at all, nor is it complex.

The right to serve as a federal judge has absolutely nothing to do with the right to practice law.

The license to practice law is a STATE license, pure and simple - each state decides its own rules, and enforces them as it sees fit.

There is no more a federalism question when a federal judge's license to practice law is revoed than there would be if the state revoked the federal judge's license to drive a car. Both are purely state licensing matters.

If the federal government somehow reads the constitution to imply a licensing requirement (Hint:
federal judges do NOT have to be licensed to practice law), it would be up to a federal entity to respond to the fact that the judge no longer has a license. It could do as it chose as to the fact of the judge's disbarrment.

[TomSlick]

19. I suspect the federal judges before whom I practice would not be so prosaic in their approach

if the State Supreme Court attempted to disbar them. It is clear that the State Supreme Court cannot remove a federal judge. The federalism question comes in whether the State Supreme Court can even consider disbarring a federal judge - even if it could only embarrass the judge.

I can imagine a federal judge considering the very attempt at disbarment proceedings to be contempt.

[Ms. Toad]

20. Feel free to ask them.

I'm confident that they understand that state licensing is purely a state matter.

The state is under no obligation to allow incompetent or unethical attorneys to retain the ablity to practice law within the state merely because they are employed by the federal government - evem when they are serving as a judge.

Revoking a federal judge's right to practice law within the state does not remove them from the federal bench - the only means to do that would be impeachment. That is a federal matter over which the state has no control.

They are two independent actions.

[Separation]

21. From what I understand

The only one who can disbar a Federal Judge is another Federal Judge or Federal Court.

AFTER EDIT: Im totally wrong on this, disregard. Disbarring is a completely different topic than impeachment.