Supreme+Court

= = =The Supreme Court=

toc The Supreme Court is the highest part of the Judicial branch. It is made up of 9 judges called justices. The head justice is called the Chief Justice. The current Chief Justice is John Roberts. IF someone is appointed a Supreme Court Justice they can have that position for life. Justices are not voted into office they are appointed by the President and then they senate has to approve them. = =

Why the Supreme Court was created?
The Supreme Court was created out of the Judiciary Act on September 24,1789. It was unveiled on February 2,1790. At the beginning of the Supreme Court there was only 6 justices, one of them being the Chief Justice. At the time the Judicial Branch was by far the weakest branch in the Government. Then John Marshall was appointed Chief Justice. He presented the Supreme Court's rights and power. During John Marshall's 34 years he made the the Supreme Court the strongest court in the United States.

The Duties of The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court's first case was Marbury vs. Madison. The court decides which cases it wants to hear by voting on it. So there are some cases that are presented but not heard by the the Supreme Court. The supreme court is basically in charge of the entire Judicial Branch. If a case passes the vote, and is going to be heard by the court then it is scheduled. It is then heard by at least 2/3's of the court, which now is 6 out of the 9 justices. They listen to a 30 minute long argument presented by each lawyer, the justices are aloud to ask any questions they want to. The court usually hears about 2-3 cases a day on the Monday,Tuesday, and Wednesday of every week. Evey year the Supreme Court decides about 150 cases of national importance.

The Justices of The Supreme Court
The justices are appointed by the President but they are approved by the Senate. There is a Chief justice and 8 other justices at the time. Once a justice is appointed they have this job for life, unless they resign or are impeached. The justices listen to cases and decide the outcome of them. They vote on the cases and usually they vote more than once because justices may change their mind.

How the Supreme Court limits the other branches of government
The Supreme Court Limits Congress because the court decides what is constitutional and what is unconstitutional, also justices can serve for life and neither anyone in Congress or in the Legislative branch can serve for life. They limit the Legislative branch because the interpret the laws and The Presidents actions. They also hold the impeachment trials.

The Supreme Court Today
the supreme court still has 9 justices one if which is the chief justice. They regularly vote on different cases. For example they recently voted on a case discussing if the navy should still use sonar because it could be harming marine life. The supreme court building is located in Washington D.C., NE and 1st street NE.