Supreme Court of the United States
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The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest federal court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States to interpret and decide questions of federal law, including the Constitution of the United States. As Justice Robert H. Jackson once famously remarked "We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final".
It is head of the judicial branch of the United States Government. The other two branches of the United States Government are the executive branch and the legislative branch. The Supreme Court is sometimes known by the acronyms SCOTUS and USSC (for United States Supreme Court).
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Structure and powers
The powers of the Supreme Court are established in the first and second sections of Article Three of the Constitution:
Section 1:
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section 2:
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party; to Controversies between two or more States; between a State and Citizens of another State; between Citizens of different States; between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. (...)
The Supreme Court is the only court required by the United States Constitution. All other federal courts are created by U.S. Congress. The justices (currently nine) are appointed for life by the President of the United States and confirmed by majority vote by the Senate. One of these nine serves as Chief Justice; the remaining members are designated Associate Justices.
As with all federal courts, the jurisdiction of the court is limited. While the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in a few cases such as suits between states, most of its work consists of appellate review of cases from state supreme courts or from lower federal courts.
Its jurisdiction is limited by Article III of the U.S. Constitution to "cases" and "controversies" arising under federal law. Cases that arise from the state court systems may only be heard by the United States Supreme Court if they present an issue of federal law. In those cases in which the state court decided the case on an independent and adequate state ground, the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction to hear it.
In addition, although the Constitution states the outer limits of the court's power, it also gives Congress the ability to limit its jurisdiction. Although Congress has authorized review of lower court decisions by direct appeal in limited circumstances, most cases are brought to the court by petition for a writ of certiorari, which the court has discretion to grant or deny. If the court grants certiorari, the case is placed on its calendar for briefing and oral argument. If the court denies certiorari, it does not decide the merits of the case, and the lower court's decision remains in force.
Although not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, the Court, like all U.S. courts, is accepted to have the power of judicial review. The 1803 case Marbury v. Madison established that the Supreme Court can strike down laws passed by Congress that exceed Congress's constitutional powers. Although used reluctantly at first, this power has been frequently used in recent decades.
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Procedures
When deciding a case, each justice can write his or her own opinion; all these statements are made public. There is usually one opinion for the majority of the justices, which is designated the "Opinion of the Court". In addition to the majority opinion, there are often concurring and dissenting opinions. Usually, the majority opinion is signed by its author, but sometimes the court will issue an unsigned opinion "per curiam", particularly if it summarily reverses a lower court's decision without full briefing or oral argument. The majority opinion is usually preceded by a summary called a "syllabus", which concisely summarizes the case and the decision. The syllabus is accompanied by a disclaimer that it is prepared by the reporter of decisions and does not constitute a part of the court's opinion.
The practice of issuing an opinion of the court was initiated during the tenure of Chief Justice John Marshall in the early nineteenth century. This replaced the previous practice by which each justice would announce a separate opinion. The former practice is still followed by appellate courts in many common law jurisdictions outside the United States.
Case reporters and citations
Supreme Court decisions are cited as in the following example: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 118 (1973). The parts of the citation are as follows:
- the opposing parties (see below)
- the number of the reporter volume in which the decision was published
- "U.S.", signifying United States Reports, the official reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court
- the page number where the decision begins
- the page number(s) of the specific material cited
- the year the case was decided
The listed names are given in the format "Petitioner v. Respondent", where the petitioner is the party that requested certiorari after having lost the previous decision in the case, and the respondent is the party having prevailed in the lower court. Where the case has come to the court by an appeal of right, as in what is called "probable jurisdiction," the appealing party (the "appellant") is named first. In cases involving a federal agency (for example, the United States Department of Justice), the head of the agency is often named as a party to the case, such as Ashcroft v. ACLU. The v. stands for versus, Latin for "against." In speaking, it is sometimes read as "vee", sometimes as "versus", and sometimes as "against."
In addition to the official United States Reports, Supreme Court cases are also reported in the Supreme Court Reporter (S.Ct), published by West Publishing Company and including cases decided since 1882, and the United States Supreme Court Reports, Lawyer's Edition first and second editions (L.Ed. and L.Ed.2d), with cases since 1790 published by the Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company. Both include everything in the official United States Reports as well as editorial features such as annotations and topic headers.
A case cite will often list in a parallel cite where the case can be found in all three reporters, as in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973).
The reporter of decisions is responsible for publication of the Court's rulings.
See also court citation.
Current Justices
As of 2005, the United States Supreme Court Justices are:
- Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (born 1924, appointed by Richard Nixon in 1971 and elevated by Ronald Reagan in 1986);
- Justice John Paul Stevens (born 1920, appointed by Gerald Ford in 1975);
- Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (born 1930, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981);
- Justice Antonin Scalia (born 1936, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1986);
- Justice Anthony Kennedy (born 1936, appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1988);
- Justice David Souter (born 1939, appointed by George H. W. Bush in 1990);
- Justice Clarence Thomas (born 1948, appointed by George H. W. Bush in 1991).
- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (born 1933, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993);
- Justice Stephen Breyer (born 1938, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994);
Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas are generally considered to be the conservative wing of the court. Justices Souter, Breyer, Ginsburg, and Stevens are generally considered to the liberal wing. Justices Kennedy and O'Connor are typically seen as moderates, and hence are the swing votes who often determine the outcome of close cases.
Confirmation of current Justices
| Name | Date Confirmed | Senate Vote | reference |
| Rehnquist | December 10, 1971 | 65-33 | [1] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/rehnquist.htm) |
| Stevens | December 17,1975 | 98-0 | [2] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/stevens.htm) |
| O'Connor | September 21, 1981 | 99-0 | [3] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/o'connor.htm) |
| Scalia | September 17, 1986 | 98-0 | [4] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/scalia.htm) |
| Kennedy | February 3, 1988 | unanimous | [5] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/kennedy.htm) |
| Souter | October 2, 1990 | 90-9 | [6] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/souter.htm) |
| Thomas | October 15, 1991 | 52-48 | [7] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/thomas.htm) |
| Ginsburg | August 10, 1993 | 97-3 | [8] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/ginsburg.htm) |
| Breyer | July 29, 1994 | 87-9 | [9] (http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/breyer.htm) |
See also: List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
Physical location
The Supreme Court convened for the first time on February 1, 1790 in the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City. It moved to Philadelphia and finally to Washington, DC as the location of the national capital changed. For much of its history, it met in various spaces within the Capitol (and in a private house for a brief period when the Capitol was burned during the War of 1812).
In 1935 it was finally moved to an independent structure more befitting its independent stature within the federal government, at the urging of William Howard Taft, who had been both President of the United States and Chief Justice. One commentator observed at the time that the building, located across the street from the Capitol, had fine high windows for the Court to throw the New Deal out of.
The United States Supreme Court building was designed by architect Cass Gilbert and built between 1932 and 1935. Marble for the court building was brought from Italy with personal assistance of Benito Mussolini. The building is currently undergoing the first renovation in its 70-year history, which is scheduled for completion in 2008.Template:Ref
History
The Court achieved its current influence in the life of the United States during the tenure of Chief Justice John Marshall. He was appointed to the office by John Adams in the final days of Adams' presidency. As a political opponent of the Jeffersonian Republicans, Marshall delivered a number of opinions that they found uncongenial, strengthening the Judicial branch at the expense of the Executive branch and asserting the Court's monopoly on the interpretation of the Constitution. Among these cases were Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803), formally asserting the Court's role in judicial review, and United States v. Peters, 5 Cranch 115 (1809), affirming that the power of the federal government was greater than any individual state. Marbury, in particular, is arguably the single most important cases in the court's history; it began the process of judicial review, allowing the Supreme Court to strike down laws of Congress it deemed unconstitutional. This model has been adopted by countries throughout the world.
It is worth noting that the Supreme Court, unlike the Legislative or the Executive branches, has no budgetary or military power at its disposal. It relies solely upon respect for the Constitution for adherence to its judgments. At the conclusion of United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974), many feared that Richard Nixon would refuse to turn over the Watergate tapes (an example of what legal scholars call executive nonacquiescence). Nixon, however, complied.
Congress determines the number of justices on the Court. There have been nine justices on the Court since 1869. There were originally six until 1807 when a seventh justice was added. In 1837 an eighth and ninth were added with a tenth in 1863. The Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 called for the removal of three seats as justices retired. This act was passed to deny President Andrew Johnson from making any Supreme Court appointments. One seat was removed in 1866 and a second in 1867. Before a third seat was removed, the Congress passed the Circuit Judges Act of 1869 restoring the number of seats to nine. Since 1869, the Court has been kept at nine, both for political reasons as well as practical necessity. Subsequent attempts to change the number of justices have since been rejected.
The last notable attempt to alter the number of justices was on February 5, 1937 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed an increase in the size of the Court to fifteen justices, one additional seat for each justice over age 70, to deal with a Court overturning of Roosevelt's New Deal legislation. Many politicians at the time and historians since scorned this plan to "pack the court". The proposal failed on July 22 when the United States Senate voted against it.
The Supreme Court delivered a highly controversial 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore, 531 U.S. 98 (2000), that ended weeks of bitter legal maneuvering between lower courts following the 2000 presidential election. The decision raised criticisms that the Court had overstepped its bounds by trying and failing to provide a judicial resolution for an intractable political dispute, much as the Court had attempted to do nearly 150 years earlier in Dred Scott v. Sanford. Justice Stevens' and Justice Breyer's dissenting opinions echoed this criticism, albeit faintly, by reference to the wound that the Court had inflicted on itself, an allusion to Charles Evans Hughes' description of the Dred Scott decision as a self-inflicted wound.
As of June 2005, there has not been a vacancy on the bench for over ten years, a period of time exceeded only once in court history (1812-1823). However, with Justice Rehnquist's illness, there is much speculation over potential nominees to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Attorneys
In order to file pleadings or argue a case before the Supreme Court, an attorney must be a member of the Bar of the Court. The basic requirements for admission are that the applicant must have been admitted at least three years previously to the bar of the highest court of a state or territory of the US, be recommended for admission by two other members of the bar of the Supreme Court not related to the applicant by blood or marriage, and not have been publicly disciplined by any court or professional disciplinary agency for the previous year.
Notable decisions
Notable statements
- Clear and present danger and imminent lawless action (free speech)
- Lemon Test (Establishment clause)
- Miller test for obscenity
- Plessy v. Ferguson (separate but equal)
- Corporate personhood
- Miranda warnings ("You have the right to remain silent...")
See also
- Executive branch
- Legislative branch
- Supreme Court
- Judiciary
- Justices who have served on the Court
- Nominees to the Court who never served
- Federal judicial appointment history#Supreme Court
- Legal research
External links
- US Supreme Court official homepage (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/index.html)
- LII - US Supreme Court decisions: recent and historic (http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/)
- Oyez.org, a repository of Supreme court opinions and information (http://www.oyez.org)
- Milestone Cases in Supreme Court History (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101289.html) from Infoplease.com
- All Supreme Court decisions since 1897, from FindLaw (http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html)
- Biographies of the Justices (http://www.michaelariens.com/ConLaw/justices/list.htm)
- Extensive collection of Supreme Court decisions, audio clips and biographies of all justices of the Court (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage)
- Teaching about the United States Supreme Court. ERIC Digest. (http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-2/court.htm)
- Teaching about Landmark Dissents in United States Supreme Court Cases. ERIC Digest. (http://www.ericdigests.org/1995-2/court.htm)
- Teaching the Law Using United States Supreme Court Cases. ERIC Digest. (http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-5/law.htm)
- The Supreme Court Historical Society (http://www.supremecourthistory.org)
References
- Constitution of the United States. (http://sources.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America)
- Template:Note Biskupic, Joan (March 29, 2005). "Add dust for all at Supreme Court". USA Today, p. 3A. Information on renovations underway at the Supreme Court Building and other buildings along the National Mall
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