The Number Nine: Why the Texas Supreme Court Has the Same Number of Justices as the United States Supreme Court

When the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and the Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) are compared, similarities and differences are seen. The differences are more numerous and result from the specific or idiosyncratic provisions of their respective legal systems’ constitutions and statues. For instance, SCOTUS justices are appointed and serve “during good Behaviour,” while SCOTX justices are elected for six-year terms. The similarities of the two courts are fewer in number, such as the fact that both courts are established in constitutions. One key similarity is the number of justices of each of the courts: nine. This short essay explores the question, “Why nine?” In the case of the SCOTUS, the number of nine justices was established by legislation at the end of the Civil War and has remained unchanged, surviving the intense court-packing challenge of 1937. For the SCOTX, the number of nine seats on the Court was authorized much more recently, in a constitutional amendment that required almost twenty years of effort by a Texas governor, lawyers of the Texas Bar Association, law professors, and the Texas Civil Judicial Council to obtain ratification, finally, in 1945.