The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States of America it was established by Article III of the constitution. The Supreme court is important because it holds the authority to make the ultimate decision on a case, therefore this court is filled with controversy and reverence. The supreme court is the final court that a case could be appeal to, it’s the last chance for many people, consequently they must be selective when picking cases for the hearings. Article III of the constitution sets the judicial power of the federal government in one supreme court (Federal Judicial 2017). This court is the only court that was specifically established by the constitution in 1789, it has ultimate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases. Thus, the Supreme court is the final analyzer of the United States law and it governs how it should be applied to specific cases that made it through the process to get to the court. Although it has power it’s not considered to be all-powerful because it has restrictions from both branches of the government. Around seven thousand cases get sent to the Supreme Court per year and only 80 of them get a hearing after passing a lengthy process. Most cases that they receive are appeals from the lower courts for a case review because they feel like they were sentenced unfairly, among other reasons. The history, function, and controversial cases of the Supreme Court are captivating because the Supreme Court is considered prestigious, it’s the court that gets the most attention and prominence.
The Supreme Court was created and approved in the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Judiciary Act was a US federal law that was passed by legislative body in the first session of the first Congress of the United States (C-SPAN 2009).The purpose of this act was to set judicial courts in our law system and one of the articles which is Article III section one is responsible for creating the Supreme Court, it states that the constitution created the Supreme Court. Article III section two defines the extent of judicial power and the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the judicial power applies to all cases under the Constitution, law, and treaties. This was sign into law by president George Washington so it has existed since the beginning of time or law. This court was to be constituted of six members but it has always been 9 members, Congress is responsible for this not the Constitution. The first case took place in 1791 which was called Van Staphorst v. Maryland but the first legal decision was West v. Barnes and the first chief of justice was John Jay (Publishers Weekly 2015). The main evolution of the Supreme Court between its early years and now is that back then it was not considered as powerful as how it is now. Judges would leave their position in the Supreme Court for governor positions and many other reasons that in today’s time would be considered a vacuous move. This court is also responsible for the Writ of Certiorari grant, this is if a person or a party is not satisfied with the decision of the lower court that held their hearing they could petition the Supreme Court to hear their case. This is a petition to send in the case for further review, the court is not obligated to accept these petitions, they only do so when it is a matter of national importance, affect circuit courts, or has presidential value.
In order to be a member of the Supreme court you must be appointed by the President of the United States with consent of the Senate. The position is held for life just like federal judges with the term of being under good behavior. The size of the Supreme Court is set by law not the Constitution and it originated with six members but increase to seven, eight, nine which is what it has consisted of more almost its whole history, and ten at one point over the years. Being part of the Supreme Court is a very elite position, because since 1789 until present day only 110 justices had served in the court and only two of them were women. The salary of associate justices are paid $213,900 and the chief justice $223,500. The Chief Justice holds a position in the Supreme Court, this judge is the head of the US federal court system and the chief judge of the court, he is one the nine justices, the remaining eight judges are the associate judges of the Supreme Court. They are the highest judicial officer in the entire country, they act like chief administrative officer for federal courts, the head of Judicial Conference, and appoints the director of the administrative office. He is also a spokesperson for the judicial branch and he leads the Supreme Court. The court abides by its own set of rules such as the Rule of Four, this rule works as follows; four out of nine Justices must vote to accept a case in order to hear it. This means that unlike any other any other Court or judging system they do not need the majority of the vote to make a decision, they just need four Justices. Although, five of the nine Justices must vote to grant a stay such as a stay of execution in a death penalty case. When you file for an appeal, the appeal goes to the Supreme Court clerks, they review the proper documentation, summarizes them for the Justices, and recommend whether they should take a case or not. Then the Justices make a decision, if they decide to hear it they will issue a writ of certiorari.
The Supreme court’s annual term begins in October, five Justices form a quorum to hear a case and the decision is based on the majority vote. Cases are usually only brought to the Supreme court by appeal or writ of certiorari (Gilder Lehrman 2017). Appeal procedure is used when the highest state court declared that a US law is unconstitutional or it does not violate the Constitution, if a lower federal court rules that a statute us unconstitutional the government can prosecute an appeal instantaneously. Writ of Certiorari is granted at the discretion of the court and most of them are denied. This is used to review constitutional decisions of state courts of last resort, and decisions on any important matter, for instance when lower courts do not agree with one another. The Supreme Court has two main functions, it must interpret and propose all congressional enactments that are brought before the court in proper cases. The other function is that it has power above all the other courts to analyze federal and state statutes and executive actions to conclude whether it is constitutional or not. When the court rules against the constitutionality of a statute or an executive action the decision can be overcome only if the Constitution is modified or if the court later overrules itself or revises its previous opinion (gilder Lehrman 2017). The Supreme court has found Constitutional limitation on its power, and have settled on others ones so it does not obstruct other branches of government or states. The court was first developed for trade and foreign relations, but then it took on three different areas. First, the most time consuming was resolving questions for intergovernmental authority. Then the court the court mainly settled issues within federal government controlling commerce and the domestic economy. Lastly, the court focused on the relationship between all levels of government and the individual, more on civil rights and liberties. Article III established two types of jurisdiction for the Supreme Court, original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. Original Jurisdiction is the kinds of cases that are formed in the Supreme Court, they would not see a lower court first. The main ways this would happen is if the case evolves foreign ambassadors or minister or a state is a party in the case, it is rare to see this in court in our present time. Appellate Jurisdiction is a case appealing from lower federal courts, which makes the Supreme court the top court in the federal system and it could also be a case involving the highest state court when a significant federal question is presented.
There are many cases that were controversial in the Supreme Court but the main ones are Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Miranda v. Arizona, Marbury v. Madison, District of Columbia v. Heller, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Plessy v. Ferguson, Bush v. Gore, Lawrence v. Texas, and Dred Scott v. Sanford. All of these cases helped shape our law system today and with each controversial case that they go through the law changes and molds into a more upstanding constitution. For instance, Brown v. Board of Education, this case ended school segregation single handedly because the Supreme court declared it unanimously, this case set the road to integration and civil rights movement. Roe v. Wade a controversy that is still being debated today, granted women the right to have an abortion, this was a breakthrough because women should have the right to do whatever they please with their bodies. Miranda v. Arizona basically set rules for the police to follow in order for the people to know their rights, so we the people do not get taken advantage of. The Supreme Court cases are very valuable to our history and lifestyle. Law is all about interpretation and a person cannot think of every possible situation until it happens, these cases set the path to a proper set of rules and guidelines that make society a better place. The Supreme Court is needed to be the hierarchy of courts because if not there would not be a place where a certain case would end, it would be an endless discussion that would not be resolved.
In conclusion, The Supreme Court is the highest most important court in the United States, it has been in our community since the beginning of time. Even though it has several functions, there are three main ones that it has focused on throughout the years. It is very difficult to become one of the Justices for the Supreme Court because the position is held for life until they retire and the controversial cases that the Supreme Court has dealt with has impacted our lifestyle immensely. The court is crucial to society and maintaining order within our community and our people.