<P> Chief Justice William Rehnquist served from Burger's retirement in 1986 until his own death on September 3, 2005 . The Rehnquist Court generally took a limited view of Congress's powers under the commerce clause, as exemplified by United States v. Lopez (1995). The Court made numerous controversial decisions, including Texas v. Johnson (1989), which declared that flag burning was a form of speech protected by the First Amendment; Lee v. Weisman (1992), which declared officially sanctioned, student - led school prayers unconstitutional; Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), which voided laws prohibiting late - term abortions; and Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down laws prohibiting sodomy . (Some commentators see these decisions as part of the "culture wars .") Another controversial decision of the Rehnquist court in 2003 was Grutter v. Bollinger which upheld affirmative action . Perhaps the most controversial decision made by the Court came in Bush v. Gore (2000), which ended election recounts in Florida following the presidential election of 2000, allowing George W. Bush to become the forty - third U.S. President . </P> <P> Rehnquist led a remarkably stable Court - for the eleven years from when Stephen Breyer took the oath in 1994, to Rehnquist's death in 2005, the composition of the Court remained unchanged - the longest such stretch in over 180 years . </P> <P> Chief Justice John G. Roberts was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 29, 2005, and presided over the Court for the first time on October 3, 2005, the day the 2005--2006 session opened . On October 31, 2005, President George W. Bush announced that he was nominating Samuel Alito to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and Bush submitted the nomination to the Senate on November 10, 2005 . Under Roberts the Court has drifted primarily to the right in areas like the death penalty (Kansas v. Marsh), abortion (Gonzales v. Carhart), the exclusionary rule for Fourth Amendment violations (Hudson v. Michigan), and campaign - finance regulation (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission). On November 20, 2007, the Court agreed to hear a case, District of Columbia v. Heller, that was regarded as the first important and historically significant decision on the Second Amendment to the Constitution since 1875 . On March 18, 2008, the Supreme Court heard arguments concerning the constitutionality of a District of Columbia ban on handguns . On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that "The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self - defense within the home ." </P> <P> On August 8, 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic - American to serve on the Supreme Court after being nominated by Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate to replace the retiring Justice David Souter . On May 10, 2010, President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to replace the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens . She was confirmed on August 7, 2010 . On March 16, 2016, President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on February 13, 2016 . However, the Republican - controlled Senate refused to hold hearings on Garland, and his nomination expired on January 3, 2017 . On January 31, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch to replace Scalia, and he was confirmed on April 7, 2017 . On July 9, 2018, President Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired on July 31, 2018 . </P>

How many justices have there been since the formation of the supreme court in 1790