Let's cover the basics. you may be wondering, what even IS the supreme court? Well, the supreme court is the highest federal court of the land and serves as the supreme law of the land as well. Defined in article 3 of our nation's constitution:
"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 supreme court wasn't actually established until the passage of the judiciary act of 1789 and wasn't officially organized until the following year. the supreme court's goal is to:
1) Act as the final interpreter of the state and federal laws
2) Establish procedural rules for the federal courts below them
Why Is The Supreme Court Important?
The court sees several thousand cases every year however they tend to address larger scale issues such as:
States suing states
States holding cases against the federal government
States cases against outside governments’
The supreme court does not only deal with state cases but much larger cases concerning social justice and equality.
E.g. Same sex marriage, immigration, racial profiling…..etc.
Though these cases must go through the court system, the supreme court gets the final say.
Who are the judges? What do they do?
The judges on the bench of the supreme court are instead referred to as justices. These people are among the most accomplished figures in our government's judicial system. Each member runs for candidacy and is selected by the sitting president. There are 9 justices, that way there is never a draw on important decisions. In the supreme court, majority rules.
The current supreme court justices (Pictured above) are (Left to right) Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh,
Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan, John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, Stephen Breyer, Amy Coney Barrett
and Sonia Sotomayor.
There are no Constitutional Requirements to serve on the Supreme Court...
Justices tend to:
- have a law degree
- be white men
- be upper class
- be Protestant Christians
Justices are appointed to life terms - they serve until they die or resign
But, they can be impeached - this has only happened once.
What is the role of the Judicial Branch?
Under its appellate jurisdiction, the Court hears cases that are appealed from lower courts of appeals or cases in which an act of Congress has been ruled unconstitutional by a Federal Court. The Court can also hear appeals from the highest court at the state level, but only when there are claims that Federal law or the Constitution were violated.
Original Jurisdiction covers two types of cases:
- cases involving representatives of foreign governments
-certain cases to which a state is party
Landmark Cases
Some of the Landmark cases, cases that are studied due to their historical significance, that were heard by the supreme court which have shaped our nation as it is today includes the following:
- Brown V. Board of Education (School segregation and equal protection)
- Dredd Scott V. Sanford (Slavery and Due process)
- Obergefell V. Hodges (Marriage Equality)
- Roe V. Wade (Abortion and Right to Privacy)
- Plessy V. Ferguson (Equal Protection and "Separate but equal")
-Marbury V. Madison (Judicial Review)
No comments:
Post a Comment