Answer
In general, appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, are designed to avoid tie votes. Every appellate court in America, whether it be a state court or a federal court, is made up of an odd number of judges and/or justices. Moreover, before an en banc opinion from any appellate court takes on precedential value, a simple majority of the judges or justices seated on that court must vote for that opinion. Otherwise, the opinion is what is known as a plurality opinion.
With regard to the U.S. Supreme Court, plurality opinions are recorded and published so they do become part of jurisprudential history. Moreover, even though they do not technically provide hard precedential value, inferior courts often choose to follow the plurality opinion as if it were binding precedent.
Answer
Yes. There have been a number of US Supreme Court votes that resulted in a tie due to a justice's voluntary recusal or illness, or a vacancy on the bench. An article published in the March 22, 2005 issue of Journal of Appellate Practice and Process, "Recusals and the 'Problem' of an Equally Divided Supreme Court," cited a 57-Term study of decisions made following voluntary recusal of a justice. Of the 608 cases investigated, 49, or approximately 8.1%, ended in a 4-4 deadlock resolved by "Affirmance by an Equally Divided Court," leaving the decision of the lower appellate court standing without resolving the constitutional conflict.
While it is easier to find anecdotal accounts than specific case names, historical records indicate tie votes occur more often than most people realize.
For example, during the year that elapsed between Justice Abe Fortas' 1969 resignation and Justice Harry Blackmun's eventual appointment, the remaining eight justices deadlocked on twenty cases, all later reargued and resolved.
In 1985, when Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., missed 56 oral arguments due to illness, thirteen cases ended in 4-4 votes, defaulting to affirmance in eight cases and reargument of five before the full court.
More recently, the Rehnquist Court returned an affirmance by an equally divided court in Borden Ranch Partnership v. US Army Corps of Engineers, 537 US 99 (2002), an important challenge to the Clean Water Act. The Roberts Court achieved the same result in Warner-Lambert v. Kent, 552 US ___ (2008) when Chief Justice Roberts recused himself due to conflict of interest because he owned stock in Warner-Lambert's parent company, Pfizer.
The Supreme Court may exercise one of two options when unable to reach a majority opinion: 1) Affirmance by an equally divided court, which allows the decision of the lower court to stand in judgment without resolving the conflict; or 2) Reargument at a later date, preferably before the full court, which allows a final determination.
Affirmance, which carries no precedential weight, presents a thorny problem for the legal community in that it may leave Circuit splits (differing decisions between federal appellate courts on substantially similar issues) or important constitutional questions undefined for years. In most instances, these problems are eventually addressed when the Court grants certiorari on a later case that raises comparable questions.
can purpose amendments to the constitution to overturn a supreme court decision
Senate. The Senate must give a majority vote to approve a Supreme Court nominee.
More than likely, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist was referring to the straw vote the court makes after hearing the oral arguments. Essentially, the court was not decided by the vote; it was simply the manifestation of the ruling.
Thomas was confirmed by a vote of 52-48, with Biden again voting nay.
On today's Court (2009), a 5-4 vote most likely means the Justices voted by political ideology, with Justice Kennedy as the swing vote. Split votes are common right now because the Court is ideologically polarized.
No, the Supreme Court is not elected by the people. Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the President, and then the Senate votes to confirm them.
swingvote
can purpose amendments to the constitution to overturn a supreme court decision
No, that's not true. Supreme Court justices have a right to vote, just like most other adult citizens.
The President
Senate. The Senate must give a majority vote to approve a Supreme Court nominee.
If your question refers to a state supreme court justice, and if your state provides for election to their supreme court rather than appointment, you can vote when you turn 18 (per the Twenty-Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution), provided you register properly before the election.If you are asking about US Supreme Court justices; they are nominated by the President and confirmed or rejected by Senate vote, not elected. The electorate (voting public) does not play a direct role in the appointment of justices to the US Supreme Court.
Direct popular vote (except supreme court).
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vote for approval
The President submits his choice to be a Supreme Court Justice for approval to the Congress. If the Congress does not vote for approval, (and there have been times when they voted against the President's choices), the person does not become a Supreme Court Justice and the President has to select someone else and have that person voted for by the Congress.
US Supreme Court justices are chosen (nominated) by the President and approved by a simple majority vote of the Senate.