Post 2: The U.S. Supreme Court

Monday, December 7, 2020

The U.S. Supreme Court: How it Works 

What was to be known as the United States Supreme Court was established in 1789 by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. This simultaneously granted the United States Congress the power to create inferior federal courts, none of which having power higher than that of the Supreme Court. SCOTUS, another name by which the U.S. Supreme Court is known, is the highest federal court in the country and also heads our nation's judicial branch. The Supreme Court has complete and total jurisdiction as to the laws of our country and is also responsible for evaluating and maintaining the constitutionality of those laws.

                            

Currently, there sit nine justices in the Supreme Court, but when it was first comprised in 1789 there were only six. This number has changed over the course of American history but in 1869 Congress regulated the seats to nine, and it has remained this way since.  

Notable cases brought to the Supreme Court:  

Mapp v. Ohio (1961), which held that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in criminal cases

Texas v. Johnson (1989), which found that flag burning and other potentially offensive speech is protected by the First Amendment

Roe v. Wade (1973), which ruled that women have a right to an abortion during the first two trimesters

U.S. v. Nixon (1974), which found that the President cannot use his or her power to withhold evidence in criminal trials

Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down state anti-sodomy laws

The United States v. Windsor (2013), which revoked the U.S. government’s ability to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage across all 50 states

Source: 

        History.com Editors. (2010, May 11). Supreme Court. Retrieved September 16, 2020, from https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts