The Supreme Court

Basics Highest court in the land The highest court of appeals Has Original Jurisdiction ( can be the first to hear a case) in cases that involve foreign diplomats and disputes between states Justices appointed to Court by President with Senate approval to life terms

Judicial Review The power to decide if a local, state, of federal law is Constitutional—not expressly given to the Court by the Constitution Established by the case Marbury v Madison President John Adams appointed William Marbury a justice of the peace on his last day in office; The next day new president Thomas Jefferson told new Secretary of State James Madison to cancel the order (he was of a different political party)

Adams, Marbury, Jefferson, Madison

Judicial Review Marbury sued and took his case to the Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall ruled that Marbury should have his position but the Court did not have the power to force Madison to give it to him

Judicial Review Marshall’s decision established three things: 1) The Constitution is the supreme law of the land 2) If there is a conflict between the Constitution and another law, the Constitution rules 3) The judicial branch has the duty to uphold the Constitution and determine if laws violate it

Significance of Marbury v Madison Made the Legislative Branch equal in power to the other two branches Provides an important check over the other two branches

Court Packing There have always been nine justices During the Great Depression the Court rules several parts of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal unconstitutional Roosevelt tried to raise the membership of the Court to 15 and appoint six justices loyal to him

What impact would that have had on the New Deal?

What long-term impact might that have had on the Court?

Limits to the Powers of the Court The Court is dependent on local, state, and the federal government to enforce its rulings—what if that doesn’t happen? Brown v Board of Ed. (1954): The court ruled that segregation was unconstitutional but the South refused to integrate schools; The federal government was forced to use federal marshals and troops to force integration

Other Limits Congress can get around a Court ruling by passing a new law or Amendment (Example: the Court ruled income taxes unconstitutional after the Civil War, so Congress passed the 16th Amendment) Justices are appointed and can be impeached The Court can only rule on cases that come to it on appeal—you cannot appeal directly to the Supreme Court The Court has traditionally only dealt with federal issues and avoided political ones (One exception was the 2000 election that was disputed between George W. Bush and Al Gore)