retire rather than resign. After retirement, they keep their title, and by custom may also keep a set of chambers in the Supreme Court building, and employ law clerks. The names of retired associate justices continue to appear alongside those of the active justices in the bound volumes of Supreme Court decisions. Federal statute () provides that retired Supreme Court justices may serve—if designated and assigned by the chief justice—on panels of the U.S. courts of appeals, or on the U.S. district courts. Retired justices are not, however, authorized to take part in the consideration or decision of any cases before the Supreme Court (unlike other retired federal judges who may be permitted to do so in their former courts); neither are they known or designated as a "senior judge". When, after his retirement, William O. Douglas attempted to take a more active role than was customary, maintaining that it was his prerogative to do so because of his senior status, he was rebuffed by Chief Justice Warren Burger and admonished by the whole Court. There are currently four living retired associate justices: Sandra Day O'Connor, retired January 31, 2006; David Souter, retired June 29, 2009; Anthony Kennedy, retired July 31, 2018; and Stephen Breyer, retired June 30, 2022. Souter regularly serves on panels of the First Circuit Courts of Appeals, while O'Connor also served on panels of various circuit courts for several years following her retirement and prior to her later withdrawal from public life; Kennedy and Breyer have not performed any judicial duties since retiring. List of associate justices Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 104 persons have served as an associate justice: Notes References Further reading External links Historic Supreme Court Decisionsby Justice, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School Supreme Court of the United States (website home page) Supreme Court of the United States people United States federal judges Legal professions