# Do (did) all supreme court appointees have to be judges? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908 "2005-04-05T20:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908/21 "2005-04-06T13:24:56Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > We would, true, but not because we want to preserve our monopoly, or at least not exclusively that. Most non-lawyers simply wouldn’t understand what’s going on in most cases because the law is a system still based in large part on rules developed over the last several centuries that laypeople generally have no reason to need to know. > > –Cliffy Fair clarification, Cliffy - OxyMoron, Esq. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908/22 "2005-04-06T14:43:55Z")
> [@](#): > > So, can foreign born children become supreme court judges? Can Dubya appoint one of the Brit bonny princes? Felix Frankfurter was born in Austria-Hungary. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908/23 "2005-04-06T15:28:58Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Felix Frankfurter was born in Austria-Hungary. Who should not, under any circumstances, be confused with Justice Frank N. Furter. The less said about that whole sorry episode of our judicial history, the better. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908/24 "2005-04-06T16:05:39Z")
Yeah, but Tim Curry was brilliant in the biopic. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908/25 "2005-04-06T16:51:37Z")
> [@Limbo Donni](#): > > Presidents have to be 35 and native born to prevent the stupid European (and Tibetan) practice of annointing foreign children to high office. Not to turn that into a Great Debate, but I wouldn’t call that a “stupid practice” (and not a predominantly European one, either). If the appointed/elected person is citizen of the country in question, I think that is sufficient to ensure he’s fulfilling the duties of the office with due care. I would even argue that naturalized citizens might in some cases be more apt than native born ones, as they had to somewhat struggle, at least undergo a certain procedure, to obtain citizenship, and might therefore value it higher. But that’s just IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-did-all-supreme-court-appointees-have-to-be-judges/297908.md?page=1)