The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the United States of America and is situated in Washington D.C. It was established in 1789 and only deals cases about federal law. It is only court that is established by the United States Constitution and therefore all decisions are made here all the other courts must follow. The Supreme Court is detailed in Article III of the Constitution and is the only court to be established in the Constitution as the others were created by congress. Article III, Section I states that "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." Congress then exercised this power in the Judiciary Act 1789, which created a Supreme Court with six justices. 

There are currently 8 justices (judges) who serve for life and they are picked by the president. However there are usually 9 but one of the judges died recently so his seat will be empty until Obama decides on his successor. There is a chief justice and 8 associates. The chief justice is currently John Roberts so the current Court is called ‘Roberts Court’. The justices are often categorized as having either conservative moderate or liberal philosophies of law and a judicial interpretation. 

The Supreme Court is important for the U.S constitutional system of government, because firstly as it is the highest court in the country it is the last resort looking for justice as well as playing an important role in ensuring each government recognizes the limits of its power. The Supreme Court also ensures laws that may harm or take advantage of minorities do not get passed, such as changing views of a majority do not undermine vital values i.e the freedom of speech. Therefore the decisions made by the Supreme Court have an impact on society as a whole not only those in politics. 

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