History of Supreme Court
During the 1787 Constitutional Convention, delegates needed a third branch to perform checks and balances over the legislative and executive branches. This branch was known as the judiciary branch. A couple of years later, the first US Congress created the Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing the first Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest judicial court located in the Capitol (building pictured above). The courts were initially made up of 6 justices (judges of the Supreme Court), a chief justice with five associate justices. The first Chief Justice was named John Jay under President George Washington.
Evolution of the Courts
It wasn't until Chief Justice John Marshall (above), appointed by Thomas Jefferson, did the Supreme Court grew in power. During 1801-1805, his time as a justice, he established the power of "judicial review" over Congress, deeming Congress's acts as unconstitutional.
The size of the courts grew over time from George Washington's 6 Justices to now the 9 Justices we see today.
How Justices are Appointed and Confirmed
According to the Constitution, Article 2, Section2, Clause 2, the President can nominate anyone as a justice with no qualifications as to who he appoints. The Senate can confirm or deny the President's nomination; this is one of the ways the legislative branch and executive branch can perform checks and balances towards the judiciary branch.
How long do Justices’ serve?
Justices have a term called tenure, which means that judges have a permanent position in the Supreme Court. Justices can serve their whole life unless they are impeached and convicted by Congress, resign, or retire.
How do they pick cases?
Justices see over 7,000 cases every year from October to June but only take about 100 lawsuits under the legal term "certiorari." Certiorari is when a higher court (such as the Supreme Court) issues a writ or order is reexamines a lower court's decision. A "rule of four" is used to determine which cases get seen, meaning that four of the nine justices agreed to take on the matter.
Decisions about the Cases
A usual vote would be 6-3, 7-2, or 5-4. A rare vote would be a unanimous vote where all the justices agree 9-0 since they usually pick complex cases that encourage debate.
Famous Cases you may have heard of that set precedent
· 1803: Marbury v Madison which created judicial review
· 1896: Plessy v Ferguson which upheld Jim Crow laws, 'separate but equal
· 1954: Brown v Board of Education which made racial segregation in schools unconstitutional
Find out more, Check out
· Shorter video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsFJukDFBWo
· Longer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTVvZ1Sdkaw
· SCOTUS blog: http://www.scotusblog.com
Sources:
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo
· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8qSuWxcG8&t=622s
· https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/constitution
· https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States
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