Judicial Branch
Who is in it?
- The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court Justices include:
- Chief Justice John G. Roberts
- Justice Clarence Thomas
- Justice Antonin Scalia
- Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Justice Sonia Sotomayor
- Justice Stephen G. Breyer
- Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
- Justice Elena Kagan
"The Current Court." The Supreme Court Historical Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
Supreme Court
"5 More Recent Supreme Court Decisions You Should Know About." TGC. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
How do you become a member?
1: Presidential Nomination
- The President nominates someone to become a Supreme Court Justice
- He consults with advisers before making his decision
2: Special Review
- The President submits his nomination to the Senate for a vote
- The Judiciary Committee questions the nominee about his/her experience, personality, and opinions on major legal and political issues
- The President must choose another nominee if the majority of the Judiciary Committee votes against the nominee
3: The Senate Votes
- The Senate debates the nomination if the Judiciary Committee approves the nominee
- Senators look very closely at a nominee's background because the nominee is a Justice for life if elected.
4: Taking a Seat
- The nominee is confirmed if he/she gets more than half the votes in the Senate
- The nominee takes a sacred oath to uphold the Constitution
"Road to the Supreme Court." Road to the Supreme Court. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
What do they do?
- The Constitution gives them the power to check the actions of the President and Congress
- The Supreme Court is the final judge in cases involving laws of Congress and the Constitution
- Of the 5,000 requests for hearing, the Court will only agree to hear fewer than 150
- The ruling of the lower court stands if the Court decides not to hear the case
- When the officer of the Court bangs his gavel, the people in the courtroom stand and the nine justices walk through a red curtain and sit in nine tall chairs
- The justices listen to the lawyers from their chairs and interrupt to ask the lawyers questions
- The Chief Justice bangs his gavel, rises from his seat, and leads all the other justices out of the courtroom
- The justices meet around a large table in a locked, guarded room
- The Supreme Court has used the power to review the laws and judge whether they were allowed under the Constitution
"The Role of the Supreme Court | Scholastic.com." Scholastic Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.
What types of cases do they hear?
- Appellate Jurisdiction
- Original Jurisdiction
examples of appellate jurisdiction:
Appellate jurisdiction is the power of a higher court to review and change decisions made by lower courts. Some examples of this are...
- A school district is accused of racial discrimination
- A person that is charged with murder claims that the death penalty is unconstitutional
- A citizen sues to prevent state funds from being used by religious schools
examples of original jurisdiction:
Original jurisdiction is the power to hear a case for the first time. Some examples of this are...
- New York and New Jersey dispute the rights of navigation on the Hudson River
- A Russian diplomat claims certain rights under a new treaty