Do (did) all supreme court appointees have to be judges?

[OxyMoron]

@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.

[Little_Nemo]

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.

[paperbackwriter]

@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.

[Cliffy]

Yeah, but Tim Curry was brilliant in the biopic.

–Cliffy

[Schnitte]

@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.