The United States Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the United States. The Supreme Court was established under Article III of the US. Constitution in 1789, and has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases involving issues of federal law. The Supreme Court also has original jurisdiction over a very few cases. The Supreme Court is the final decision maker of federal constitutional law.

Image of the Supreme court justices The Supreme Court consists of the chief justice and eight associate justices, who are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, justices serve a life term on the bench unless they retire, resign, or serve senior status. Supreme Court justices can be removed from office through the process of impeachment. However, there has never been a judge in history that has been removed from the bench. Justices are generally classified as having liberal, moderate, or conservative philosophies of law. In deciding cases, each justice has one vote. Some cases are decided unanimously. However, many high-profile cases often show ideological beliefs that track with the justices' political philosophies of law.

The Power of Choice

The Supreme Court of the United States receives approximately 7,000 petitions each year. It generally has control over which cases it hears. The justices of the Supreme Court choose about 90% of their one hundred cases by writ of certiorari, or an order to send a case up to the Supreme Court by a lower court. The Rule of Four governs the types of cases the court will hear. If four justices vote to hear a case, all nine have to agree to it.

Supreme Court Seal

How does the Supreme Court Choose its cases?

The court considers only cases that have far-reaching implications beyond the two parties involved in the dispute. For example, a case in which a student sues an assistant principal for searching a locker may shape the privacy rights of all students in public schools. The Supreme Court also hears cases in which lower courts have reached a conflicting decision and looks closely at lower court decisions that contradict earlier Supreme Court decisions.

Hearing and Deciding a Case

Hearings of cases start in October and run through the end of June. The Supreme Court justices receive briefs, or summaries of arguments, ahead of time. They often receive amici curiae (friend of the court), or briefs prepared by interest groups or government agencies, that support one side of a case over the other. The hearings are open to the public and are time enforced. Each side has 30 minutes to present its case, and the justices typically ask questions and debate one another during the allotted time frame.

Following the public hearing, the Supreme Court justices meet together privately to discuss the case. They share their opinions, debate the key issues, and eventually make a decision. Each justice chooses a side in a case. Because there are nine justices, one side always wins. This is because there are an uneven number of justices.

Announcing and Implementing a Decision

The individual justice's opinions are disclosed once the court announces a decision. A unanimous decision (9-0) indicates that the justices were in total agreement. Because the cases that are chosen are very difficult to decide, a unanimous vote is extremely rare. A justice who agrees with the majority opinion but reaches the same conclusion for different reasons, sometimes presents a concurring opinion. Judges who disagree will present a dissenting opinion.

The power of the Supreme Court to implement decisions is very limited. For example, in the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the justices ruled that racial segregation in public places, such as schools, public libraries, parks, etc., is unconstitutional. However, it took years for schools to officially desegregate based on the ruling. The Supreme Court has no way to force implementation. They cannot use military force to implement these changes.

Brown vs Board of Ed Map

Despite the Supreme Court's limitations of implementing decisions, the justices set policies that lead to real social change. Because justices work out of the public view, most Americans do not know exactly what they do, though, their decisions are extremely important.

Supreme Court case of Lemon vs. Kurtzman

Watch this brief presentation on Lemon v. Kurtzman.

The Judicial Challenge

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