Thought #29
June 2009
Author: Bill Thurston
The United States Supreme Court
What is the US Supreme Court?
The United States Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judicial system. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" (majority vote) of the Senate.
Once appointed, justices effectively serve for life. Their tenure terminates only upon death, resignation, retirement, or conviction on impeachment.
The Court meets in Washington, D.C. in the United States
Supreme Court building.
The
authority of the U.S. Supreme Court is derived from Article III of the U.S.
Constitution. This article is very short and can be read in less than 5 minutes
at:
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
What is the Jurisdiction of the
U.S. Supreme Court?
The
jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court is set out in Title 28 of the U.S. Code:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/ch81.html
Basically the U.S. Supreme Court's judicial power can extend to cases involving:
Laws of the United States.
Treaties made or which shall be made under their authority.
Cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls.
Cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction.
Controversies to which the United States shall be a party.
Controversies between two or more states.
Controversies between a state and citizens of another state.
Controversies between citizens of different states.
Controversies between citizens of the same state claiming Lands under grants of
different states.
How does the U.S.
Supreme Court work?
With few exceptions a U.S. Supreme Court Case begins when a lower court case
ends and the losing party appeals by requesting entry onto the U.S. Supreme
Court's calendar. The justices then decide whether to hear the case. The crucial
factor being whether the case can shed new light on an issue of constitutional
law. The court hears about 100 of the 10,000 cases that compete for a spot on
the court’s calendar each year.
Once the court agrees to hear the case, lawyers from each side must submit
written arguments. Each justice, or an assigned clerk, will review the arguments
and prepare a memo outlining the issues in the case. The lawyers for each side
are given a date for their oral arguments.
Each party has one half hour for their oral arguments, including questions from
the justices.
Next, the judges confer. They review the case with their clerks (who are recent
law school graduates), and chart out an initial impression of their votes.
Within days, the justices meet in a conference room and cast their votes. The
senior justice on the winning side assigns a justice to the task of writing the
majority opinion. The senior justice will then use the written majority opinion
as a basis for writing his or her opinion. The opinion is then passed along to
members of the majority, who suggest revisions. When each member of the majority
signs off on the opinion, it is ready to be made public. From the bench, the
author of the majority opinion will summarize the decision. The case is now
forever part of Constitutional law doctrine.
What are the requirements to become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice?
None! Zero! Zilch!
There are no specific requirements in order to be appointed a U.S. Supreme Court
Justice. All previous justices have been trained in the laws of the country.
Many Justices served as members of Congress, governors, or members of the
President's Cabinet.
Interesting facts about the US Supreme Court
A U.S. Supreme Court term begins on the first Monday in October, and runs
through late June or early July. The term is divided between “sittings” for the
hearing of cases and delivering of opinions, and intervening “recesses” for the
consideration of the business before the court and writing of opinions. Sittings
and recesses alternate about every two weeks.
Of all of our presidents nominations to the U.S. Supreme Court, here is what
happened to that nominee:
115 were confirmed and served.
7 declined.
11 withdrew.
12 were rejected.
3 were postponed.
10 had no action taken by the senate.
In 2008, the Chief Justice’s salary was $217,400, with associate justices receiving $208,100.
The nine Justices are seated by seniority on the Bench. The Chief Justice
occupies the center chair. The senior Associate Justice sits to his right, the
second senior to his left, and so on, alternating right and left by seniority.
Since at least 1800, it has been traditional for Justices to wear black robes
while in Court.
Justices participate in the traditional "conference handshake" when they
assemble to enter an argument session. All justices shake hands as they gather
to enter the court, a tradition established by Chief Justice Melville Fuller in
the late 1800s to symbolize the cohesiveness of all the judges in the court's
purpose, despite differences they may have in ideology. Justices partake in a
similar conference handshake when meeting to review petitions before the court
or voting to decide cases.
Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase was the only justice to appear on U.S. currency.
He was on the $10,000 bill, which is no longer printed.
William H. Taft was the only president to also serve as a Supreme Court justice.
Jimmy Carter is the only president to serve a full term without nominating a Supreme Court justice.
A Final Thought
What all this means is that five U.S. Supreme Court Justices have the power to overturn laws, render decisions on civil cases which effectively become the law of the land, and to grant rights that will remain effective for an unlimited time. There is basically no appeal from their decisions.
It's therefore very important the President and the Senate gets U.S. Supreme
Court Justice nominations and confirmations right. Politics is one thing but bad
judges can be very detrimental to all of us.
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