TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Peter Paccone: How do US Supreme Court justices get appointed?

Unscramble the Blue Letters

There's a job out there with a great deal of power, pay, prestige, and near-perfect job security. And there's only one way to be hired: get apioenptd to the US Supreme Court. If you want to become a justice on the serpume Court, the highest federal court in the unietd States, three things have to haeppn. You have to be nominated by the president of the United staets, your nionotiamn needs to be aeoprpvd by the Senate, and finally, the president must formally aonpipt you to the court. Because the Constitution doesn't specify any qualifications, in other words, that there's no age, education, profession, or even native-born citizenship requirement, a president can nominate any individual to serve. So far, six justices have been foreign-born, at least one never graduated from high school, and another was only 32 years old when he joined the bench. Most presidents nominate idndlviuias who broadly share their ideological view, so a president with a liberal ideology will tend to appoint liberals to the court. Of course, a justice's leanings are not always so predictable. For example, when President Eisenhower, a Republican, nominated Earl Warren for cheif jiutsce, Eisenhower expected him to make conservative decisions. Instead, Warren's judgements have gone down as some of the most liberal in the Court's history. Eisenhower later remarked on that appointment as "the biggest damned-fool mistake" he ever made. Many other factors come up for cindtraooisen, as well, iiudnnclg experience, personal loyalties, ethnicity, and gender. The candidates are then thoroughly vetted down to their tax records and payments to domestic help. Once the pdinesret iewentivrs the candidate and makes a formal nomination announcement, the Senate leadership traditionally truns the nomination over to hearings by the Senate juicdairy Committee. Depending on the cntnnoieseuosts of the chocie, that can stretch over many days. Since the Nixon aoiastmnriidtn, these hnargies have averaged 60 days. The nominee is interviewed about their law recrod, if applicable, and where they stand on key issues to discern how they might vote. And especially in more recent history, the committee tries to uraenth any dark secrets or past intidsriocens. The Judiciary Committee votes to send the nomination to the full snetae with a pviosite or niavtege reenmimootdcan, often reeicvtfle of political legainns, or no recommendation at all. Most rejections have happened when the Senate majority has been a different political party than the president. When the Senate does approve, it's by a simple majority vote, with ties broken by the vice president. With the Senate's consent, the president issues a written appointment, anwlolig the nominee to complete the final steps to take the constitutional and judicial oaths. In doing so, they slemlnoy swear to administer justice without respect to persons and do equal right to the poor and the rich and faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the dietus iucnbment upon a US Supreme Court justice. This job is for life, barring resignation, retirement, or removal from the court by impeachment. And of the 112 justices who have held the position, not one has yet been removed from office as a result of an impeachment. One of their roles is to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans, even as different parties take power. With the tremendous impact of this responsibility, it's no wonder that a US Supreme Court justice is expected to be, in the words of Irving R. Kaufman, "a paragon of virtue, an intellectual Titan, and an administrative wrziad." Of course, not every member of the Court turns out to be an exemplar of justice. Each leaves behind a legacy of decisions and opinions to be debated and dissected by the ultimate jeudgs, time and hsitroy.

Open Cloze

There's a job out there with a great deal of power, pay, prestige, and near-perfect job security. And there's only one way to be hired: get _________ to the US Supreme Court. If you want to become a justice on the _______ Court, the highest federal court in the ______ States, three things have to ______. You have to be nominated by the president of the United ______, your __________ needs to be ________ by the Senate, and finally, the president must formally _______ you to the court. Because the Constitution doesn't specify any qualifications, in other words, that there's no age, education, profession, or even native-born citizenship requirement, a president can nominate any individual to serve. So far, six justices have been foreign-born, at least one never graduated from high school, and another was only 32 years old when he joined the bench. Most presidents nominate ___________ who broadly share their ideological view, so a president with a liberal ideology will tend to appoint liberals to the court. Of course, a justice's leanings are not always so predictable. For example, when President Eisenhower, a Republican, nominated Earl Warren for _____ _______, Eisenhower expected him to make conservative decisions. Instead, Warren's judgements have gone down as some of the most liberal in the Court's history. Eisenhower later remarked on that appointment as "the biggest damned-fool mistake" he ever made. Many other factors come up for _____________, as well, _________ experience, personal loyalties, ethnicity, and gender. The candidates are then thoroughly vetted down to their tax records and payments to domestic help. Once the _________ __________ the candidate and makes a formal nomination announcement, the Senate leadership traditionally _____ the nomination over to hearings by the Senate _________ Committee. Depending on the _______________ of the ______, that can stretch over many days. Since the Nixon ______________, these ________ have averaged 60 days. The nominee is interviewed about their law ______, if applicable, and where they stand on key issues to discern how they might vote. And especially in more recent history, the committee tries to _______ any dark secrets or past _____________. The Judiciary Committee votes to send the nomination to the full ______ with a ________ or ________ ______________, often __________ of political ________, or no recommendation at all. Most rejections have happened when the Senate majority has been a different political party than the president. When the Senate does approve, it's by a simple majority vote, with ties broken by the vice president. With the Senate's consent, the president issues a written appointment, ________ the nominee to complete the final steps to take the constitutional and judicial oaths. In doing so, they ________ swear to administer justice without respect to persons and do equal right to the poor and the rich and faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the ______ _________ upon a US Supreme Court justice. This job is for life, barring resignation, retirement, or removal from the court by impeachment. And of the 112 justices who have held the position, not one has yet been removed from office as a result of an impeachment. One of their roles is to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans, even as different parties take power. With the tremendous impact of this responsibility, it's no wonder that a US Supreme Court justice is expected to be, in the words of Irving R. Kaufman, "a paragon of virtue, an intellectual Titan, and an administrative ______." Of course, not every member of the Court turns out to be an exemplar of justice. Each leaves behind a legacy of decisions and opinions to be debated and dissected by the ultimate ______, time and _______.

Solution

indiscretions
recommendation
administration
turns
record
hearings
happen
states
history
appointed
choice
judges
president
chief
approved
wizard
judiciary
individuals
incumbent
appoint
supreme
negative
interviews
consideration
positive
united
reflective
justice
unearth
allowing
leanings
contentiousness
nomination
senate
duties
solemnly
including

Original Text

There's a job out there with a great deal of power, pay, prestige, and near-perfect job security. And there's only one way to be hired: get appointed to the US Supreme Court. If you want to become a justice on the Supreme Court, the highest federal court in the United States, three things have to happen. You have to be nominated by the president of the United States, your nomination needs to be approved by the Senate, and finally, the president must formally appoint you to the court. Because the Constitution doesn't specify any qualifications, in other words, that there's no age, education, profession, or even native-born citizenship requirement, a president can nominate any individual to serve. So far, six justices have been foreign-born, at least one never graduated from high school, and another was only 32 years old when he joined the bench. Most presidents nominate individuals who broadly share their ideological view, so a president with a liberal ideology will tend to appoint liberals to the court. Of course, a justice's leanings are not always so predictable. For example, when President Eisenhower, a Republican, nominated Earl Warren for Chief Justice, Eisenhower expected him to make conservative decisions. Instead, Warren's judgements have gone down as some of the most liberal in the Court's history. Eisenhower later remarked on that appointment as "the biggest damned-fool mistake" he ever made. Many other factors come up for consideration, as well, including experience, personal loyalties, ethnicity, and gender. The candidates are then thoroughly vetted down to their tax records and payments to domestic help. Once the president interviews the candidate and makes a formal nomination announcement, the Senate leadership traditionally turns the nomination over to hearings by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Depending on the contentiousness of the choice, that can stretch over many days. Since the Nixon administration, these hearings have averaged 60 days. The nominee is interviewed about their law record, if applicable, and where they stand on key issues to discern how they might vote. And especially in more recent history, the committee tries to unearth any dark secrets or past indiscretions. The Judiciary Committee votes to send the nomination to the full Senate with a positive or negative recommendation, often reflective of political leanings, or no recommendation at all. Most rejections have happened when the Senate majority has been a different political party than the president. When the Senate does approve, it's by a simple majority vote, with ties broken by the vice president. With the Senate's consent, the president issues a written appointment, allowing the nominee to complete the final steps to take the constitutional and judicial oaths. In doing so, they solemnly swear to administer justice without respect to persons and do equal right to the poor and the rich and faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon a US Supreme Court justice. This job is for life, barring resignation, retirement, or removal from the court by impeachment. And of the 112 justices who have held the position, not one has yet been removed from office as a result of an impeachment. One of their roles is to protect the fundamental rights of all Americans, even as different parties take power. With the tremendous impact of this responsibility, it's no wonder that a US Supreme Court justice is expected to be, in the words of Irving R. Kaufman, "a paragon of virtue, an intellectual Titan, and an administrative wizard." Of course, not every member of the Court turns out to be an exemplar of justice. Each leaves behind a legacy of decisions and opinions to be debated and dissected by the ultimate judges, time and history.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
supreme court	3
judiciary committee	2
court justice	2

ngrams of length 3

collocation	frequency
supreme court justice	2

Important Words

administer
administration
administrative
age
allowing
americans
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applicable
appoint
appointed
appointment
approve
approved
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bench
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intellectual
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liberal
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nixon
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oaths
office
opinions
paragon
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party
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perform
personal
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political
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predictable
president
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protect
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rejections
remarked
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removed
republican
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resignation
respect
responsibility
result
retirement
rich
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school
secrets
security
senate
send
serve
share
simple
solemnly
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