Photo Credit to the Washington Post
Known as the Highest Court in the land, the United States Supreme Court serves an integral role in government as well as in upholding the Constitution our forefathers went to war over.
The 9-man panel of Justices is tasked with determining whether or not every law passed by Congress is constitutional, as well as deciding their own cases through legal precedence.
The Supreme Court holds rank on the Judicial branch of government, as all federal courts are subservient to their rulings and practices.
Justices on the Supreme Court are nominated by sitting Presidents to serve lifetime terms. In the 230 years of the Supreme Court's existence, only 114 men and women have had the honor of sitting on the premier legal bench. While Presidents do in fact nominate Justices, each candidate has to be confirmed by the Congress, so both the Executive and Legislative branches hold some power over the Court.
Even though the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the true role of the high court was only determined in the case Marbury v. Madison in 1803. That case set the legal precedent for Judicial Review, or the Court's ability to determine the justness of laws while following the Constitution. Since then, each case the Supreme Court has heard has been carefully examined through the lenses of the founding fathers and their ultimate document.
While the 9 justices are the nation's highest legal authority, even the Supreme Court is far from perfect. In the 1857 case Dred Scott v. Sandford, the Court ruled that African-Americans were not citizens, and as a result did not deserve civil rights. After the Civil War and the Reconstruction Amendments were ratified, the Court overturned their prior misjudgment from Dred Scott.
In more recent years, the Supreme Court has been responsible for granting civil rights to blacks, upholding gay rights, and legalizing abortion. Without the ever-watchful eye of the Supreme Court, the Federal government would have free reign to violate citizen's rights and pass laws that would make the founding fathers turn in their graves. In short, the US Supreme Court has always and continues to serve as an all-important check on government power.
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