Chapter 13: The Courts
The Supreme Court
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Analyze the structure and important features of the Supreme Court
- Explain how the Supreme Court selects cases to hear
- Discuss the Supreme Court’s processes and procedures
The Supreme Court of the United States, sometimes abbreviated SCOTUS, is a one-of-a-kind institution. While a look at the Supreme Court typically focuses on the nine justices themselves, they represent only the top layer of an entire branch of government that includes many administrators, lawyers, and assistants who contribute to and help run the overall judicial system. The Court has its own set of rules for choosing cases, and it follows a unique set of procedures for hearing them. Its decisions not only affect the outcome of the individual case before the justices, but they also create lasting impacts on legal and constitutional interpretation for the future.
*Watch this video to learn more about the Supreme Court.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE SUPREME COURT
The original court in 1789 had six justices, but Congress set the number at nine in 1869, and it has remained there ever since. There is one chief justice, who is the lead or highest-ranking judge on the Court, and eight associate justices. All nine serve lifetime terms, after successful nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate.
The current court is fairly diverse in terms of gender, religion (Christians and Jews), ethnicity, and ideology, as well as length of tenure. Some justices have served for three decades, whereas others were only recently appointed by President Trump. Figure 1 lists the names of the nine justices serving on the Court as of January 2019, along with their year of appointment and the president who nominated them.
Currently, there are five justices who are considered part of the Court’s more conservative wing—Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh—while four are considered more liberal-leaning—Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan. Had the Merrick Garland nomination in March 2016 been allowed to proceed, or had the Democrats retained the presidency in 2016, the replacement for the spots on the court vacated in the wake of the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016, or the retirement of “swing” vote Anthony Kennedy in July 2018, could have swung many key votes in a moderate or liberal direction. However, with Republican Donald Trump winning the election and the Republicans retaining Senate control, the Court has become more conservative.
LINK TO LEARNING
While not formally connected with the public the way elected leaders are, the Supreme Court nonetheless offers visitors a great deal of information at its official website.
For unofficial summaries of recent Supreme Court cases or news about the Court, visit the Oyez website or SCOTUS blog.
In fact, none of the justices works completely in an ideological bubbl