How The U.S. Supreme Court Works

 The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court and heads the judicial branch. The main function of this court is the evaluate the constitutionality of all the laws in the entire nation. The nine justices that make up this branch are responsible for checking the other two branches, the legislative and executive, and ensuring that all their actions follow The Constitution. Since 1935, the justices have meet in The Supreme court Building, commonly referred to as The Marble Palace, in Washington D.C.

Notable History

The Supreme Court was established by Article III of The Constitution in 1789. This also gave the court the power to make inferior courts through the country. This resulted in the 94 district level courts and 13 courts of appeal below the Federal Supreme Court. The court had it's first meeting on February 2, 1790, but didn't hear nay cases during their first year. The first decision was handed on August 3, 1971, in West v. Barnes.

The court has both original and appellate jurisdiction, meaning that they may be the first and only court to hear a case or they may review a case that has already been determined by a lower level court. However, a majority of their cases are appeals.

Justices

Justices are appointed by the residing U.S. President and either confirmed or denied by the U.S. Senate. Justices serve a lifelong term or until they choose to resign. Because of this, very few presidents get the chance to appoint justices. Leaving the ones that do, with an effect on the country for as long as that justice will serve. The head justice is referred to as Chief Justice, presiding over the court and setting the agenda for the justices' weekly meetings. Most importantly, the Chief Justice presides over trials of impeachment against the U.S. President in the U.S. Senate. Vitally important in the three cases where this has been used; Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump. The number of justices has varied throughout the years, ranging from five to ten justices. However, in 1869 Congress set that number to nine, where it remains today.

The current justices are; John G. Roberts as Chief Justice, Clarence Thomas, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. The last three were appointed by President Donald J. Trump. 

Notable Names

Chief Justice John Marshall is regarded as one of the most influential justices for defining the relationship between the judicial branch with the the other two. Marshall was the fourth chief justice and served for 34 years, 1801-1835, the longest term of any chief justice. The most notable of this cases, Marbury v. Madison (1803), gave the Supreme Court the ability to determine the constitutionality of federal laws enacted by Congress, known as Judicial Review.

Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, serving from 1930-1941, wrote opinions on freedom of speech and press. He also managed the while it changed from protecting property rights to protecting civil liberties. 

Chief Justice Earl Warren, serving from 1953-1969, issued landmark decisions regarding racial segregation and mistreatment. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954) school segregation was banned. Miranda Rights and civil liberties against police officers in Miranda v. Arizona (1966). In  Loving v. Virginia (1967), he abolished laws against interracial marriage.

Other important justices include William Howard Taft, the only person to serve as both President and Chief Justice; Thurgood Marshall, the first African American justice; and Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman justice.

Important Cases

Most Supreme Court cases have lasting effects on the entire country, however, there are a few note-worthy cases that everyone should know about. Some cases like Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which upheld state segregation, and Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857), denying citizenship to African Americans, would later be overturned by The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 14th amendment, respectively.

Cases like Mapp v. Ohio (1961) and Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) gave rights to citizens to protect them during arrests, unlawfully attained evidence could not be used against you and the right to representation even if you can't afford to pay for it. 

Roe v. Wade (1973) gave women the right to have abortions until the second trimester,  is still heavily contested today. 

U.S. v. Nixon (1974) decided that the President was not allowed to abuse their own power to withhold evidence in criminal charges. 

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), legalizing same-sex marriage across all 50 states.

How It Works

After a trial has been completed at a lower level court, if a party believes that the trial may not have been fair or constitutional, a Writ of Certiorari may be issued. This Writ is a request that The Supreme Court order the lower court to send up the records of that case for review. The Supreme Court will usually only accept cases that may have national significance. Four of the nine justices must approve the Writ for the case to be heard.

If the Supreme Court has decided to hear a case, the next step is for each party to file a brief of less than 50 pages summarizing their reasoning as to why the court should or should not overturn the decision of the lower court. If the U.S. government is not directly involved in the case, they may also issue a brief, informing the court of their standpoint on the issue.

Following briefs, the case will be heard in oral arguments. Each side given approximately half an hour to argue their legal standpoint for the case and answer any questions the justices may have had when reading the briefs. After hearing both sides, the justices will convene in private and debate whether the case should be overturned. The justices will then cast eh first vote, determining who agrees with which side. A justice in the majority with then be given the task of writing the opinion of the court and a justice in the minority will write the dissenting opinion.

All opinions are typically handed in by the last day of each term, there is no rule determining when the court must release their opinion and some cases may be heard in October but not receive the opinion until the following October. Before publicly announced, a majority of justices must sign on to the opinion of the court. Once a majority has signed on, it will be publicly announced and become the official opinion of the court.

Important Things to Remember

Throughout the last 200 years The Supreme Court of The United States has made decisions that have affected the course of the entire country over and over again. However, the court is often known as "the first court still standing" because it remains very similar to how it was all those years ago. The nine justices now rule on the constitutionality of any laws put forth by congress. The U.S. Supreme Court is often known as the most powerful court in the world, and could have an impact on not only the U.S., but also how the rest of the world may feel about a certain issue.

Sources

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts

https://www.supremecourt.gov/

https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/supreme-1#:~:text=Parties%20who%20are%20not%20satisfied,grant%20a%20writ%20of%20certiorari.