Interactive Quiz - The U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Quiz:

As the nation's highest court undergoes something of a staffing change, what better time to take a look at the people beneath the black robes?

1. What did Samuel Alito's mother Rose, now 91, say to reporters when her son's nomination to the Supreme Court was announced?

"Of course he's against abortion."
"I always wanted him to be a doctor."
"He was always a good boy."
"How many Supreme Court justices does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

2. Supreme Court nominees are prepped for the confirmation hearings in closed-door sessions with lawyers who role-play as senators, peppering them with difficult and sometimes hostile questions. The dress-rehearsal sitting is a tradition known as ____________?
"Truthiness Hearings"
"Who Wants to be A Supreme Court Justice?"
"Murder Boards"
"Ordinary Justicing Levels"

3. What is the current yearly salary for a Supreme Court associate justice?
$1,199,200
$99,900
$19,920
$203,000

4. Which justice appropriated the following song lyrics in a memo to fellow justices: "Accentuate the positive/Eliminate the negative/Latch on to the affirmative/Don't mess with Mr. In Between"?
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
William Rehnquist
David Souter
Clarence Thomas

5. How did one teacher describe Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' boarding school classmates' opinions of him?
Girls thought he was "a hunk."
Boys thought he was "a bully."
They all thought he was "generous and kind."
They all thought he was "a Chess Club nerd."

6. Which justice was a cheerleader in high school?
Clarence Thomas
David Souter
Sandra Day O'Connor
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

7. In 1985, intoxicated Washington Redskins player John Riggins famously told which justice at a Washington Press Club dinner, "Come on, ____ ____, loosen up. You're too tight" before passing out on the floor?
"Johnny dear": John Paul Stevens
"Sandy baby": Sandra Day O'Connor
"Thurgood honey": Thurgood Marshall
"Warren sweetie": Warren E. Burger

8. In 1984, Supreme Court nominee John Roberts wrote a memo protesting a presidential award that was to have been given to which celebrity?
Michael Jackson
Olivia Newton-John
Bob Hope
Michael J. Fox

9. In 2002, Sandra Day O'Connor was inducted into the:
Basketball Hall of Fame
Supreme Court Justice Hall of Fame
National Cowgirl Hall of Fame
Freemasons

10. Which current justice said the following: "In a big family, the first child is kind of like the first pancake. If it's not perfect, that's okay, there are a lot more coming along"?
David Souter
Antonin Scalia
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Anthony Kennedy

11. Who is the only current Supreme Court justice who has never been married?
Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Anthony Kennedy
David Souter

12. Which justice wrote an unpublished murder mystery set in the Justice Department?
Anthony Kennedy
Antonin Scalia
William Rehnquist
Ruth Bader Ginsburg

13. Which justices dated when they were in law school together in the 1950s?
Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Antonin Scalia and Sandra Day O'Connor
William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor
Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg