What is the term length for a U.S. Supreme Court justice?

A U.S. Supreme Court justice has life tenure, serving during “good Behaviour” rather than for a fixed number of years.

This arrangement comes from Article III, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution. Its purpose is to protect judicial independence by insulating justices from election cycles and direct political pressure. A justice’s salary also cannot be reduced while the justice remains in office.

Life tenure does not mean a justice must serve until death. Justices may resign or retire, and many leave the bench before dying. They can also be removed through impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate, although that process has been extremely rare for Supreme Court justices.

The phrase is therefore shorthand for constitutionally protected tenure, not a guaranteed lifetime job. It is also different from the fixed terms used by many other courts and from the retirement rules that apply to federal judges under particular age-and-service combinations.