Supreme Court justices have a job for life. But some left the court to make their lasting mark

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the allures of being a Supreme Court justice is that the job has lifetime tenure. Americans have become accustomed to justices who retire only after decades in office or, like Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia, die while on the bench. But a number of justices over history have stepped down to take on jobs that in some cases they felt were even more consequential. One of them, James F. Byrnes, stepped off the court and onto a committee appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that recommended the use of the atomic bomb against Japan during World War II. Legislation now pending in Congress would end life tenure on the Supreme Court.