The Supreme Court

Composition of the Court

• Judiciary Act of 1789• Six justices, including 1 Chief Justice• Changed 6 times since• Current number is 9 justices, including 1

Chief Justice set in 1869

Judicial Review

• Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is the final authority in all cases that deal with:• the Constitution;• act of Congress;• or treaty of the United States

• Judicial Review• Power to decide the constitutionality of an act of

government• Not in the Constitution, but intended by the Framers

of the Constitution• Article III, Sect. 2 (jurisdiction) and Article VI, Sect. 2

(Supremacy Clause)• Established by the Marbury vs. Madison (1803) case

Jurisdiction

• Original Jurisdiction:• diplomatic representatives of other nations• disputes between two or more states• disputes between a state and the federal

government• Appellate Jurisdiction

• Any case from the state or federal level can make its way to the Supreme Court• most come from federal court

Appealing to the Supreme Court

• SCOTUS has the power to decide what cases it wants to hear• 8000 cases get appealed to the SCOTUS

per year, but only a few hundred are accepted

• Writ of Certiorari• Acceptance of a case

• “Rule of Four” – four justices must agree to hear a case

Appealing to the Supreme Court

• Amicus Briefs• written statements from each party involved in a

case• Oral Arguments

• each side is given 30 minutes to present their case

• Justices are allowed to ask questions• Conference

• meeting of the justices to presents their views on the case

Appealing to the Supreme Court

• Decision• stare decisis: let previous decision stand unchanged

(precedent)• overturn• send back to appellate court for further review

• Opinions• Majority Opinion

• legal reasoning for how the case was decided

• Concurring Opinion• opinion that agrees with the decision for different legal reasons

• Dissenting Opinion• opinion that disagrees with the majority/concurring opinions of the

court• can be used by future majority opinions