1. The Supreme Court

2. 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

3. 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)

4. Adams, Marbury, Jefferson, Madison

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. What impact would that have had on the New Deal?

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

11. 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

12. 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)