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Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law. It also has original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party."[2] The court holds the power of judicial review: the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law.[3]

Supreme Court of the United States

March 4, 1789 (1789-03-04)[1]

1 First Street, NE, Washington, D.C., U.S.

38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W / 38.89056; -77.00444

Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation

U.S. Constitution

Life tenure

9, by statute

supremecourt.gov

John Roberts

September 29, 2005

Established by Article Three of the United States Constitution, the composition and procedures of the Supreme Court were originally established by the 1st Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1789. The court consists of nine justices: the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, and the justices meet at the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Justices have lifetime tenure, meaning they remain on the court until they die, retire, resign, or are impeached and removed from office.[3] When a vacancy occurs, the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before the court. When in the majority, the chief justice decides who writes the opinion of the court; otherwise, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion.


The Supreme Court receives on average about 7,000 petitions for writs of certiorari each year, but grants only about 80.[4]

Resolving a conflict between circuit courts in the interpretation of a federal law or a provision of the federal Constitution

Correcting an egregious departure from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings

Resolving an important question of federal law, or to expressly review a decision of a lower court that conflicts directly with a previous decision of the court.

(1793) – overturned by the Eleventh Amendment (1795)

Chisholm v. Georgia

(1857) – overturned by the Thirteenth Amendment (1865) and the Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Dred Scott v. Sandford

(1895) – overturned by the Sixteenth Amendment (1913)

Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.

(1875) – overturned by the Nineteenth Amendment (1920)

Minor v. Happersett

(1937) – overturned by the Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964)

Breedlove v. Suttles

(1970) – overturned by the Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971)

Oregon v. Mitchell

The right to privacy, including a right to contraceptives. Established in (1965).

Griswold v. Connecticut

The right to privacy with regard to private sexual acts. Established in (2003).

Lawrence v. Texas

The right to marry an individual of the same sex. Established in (2015).

Obergefell v. Hodges

Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts

List of courts which publish audio or video of arguments

List of pending United States Supreme Court cases

List of presidents of the United States by judicial appointments

List of supreme courts by country

Lists of United States Supreme Court cases

Models of judicial decision making

Reporter of Decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States