The U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court
 The Supreme Court of the United States was established pursuant to Article III of
the United States Constitution in 1789 as the highest federal court in the United
States.
 It has ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal
courts & over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original
jurisdiction over a small range of cases.
 In the legal system of the U.S., the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of federal
constitutional law, although it may only act within the context of a case in which it
has jurisdiction.
 The Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and 8 associate
justices who are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
 Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, take senior
status, or are removed after impeachment (though no justice has ever been
removed).
 In modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative,
moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation.
The U.S. Supreme Court Justices
Chief Justice of the United States: JOHN G. ROBERTS, JR.
Associate Justices:
1. ANTONIN SCALIA – President Reagan (1986)
2. ANTHONY M. KENNEDY – President Reagan (1988)
3. CLARENCE THOMAS – President Bush (1991)
4. RUTH BADER GINSBURG – President Clinton (1993)
5. STEPHEN G. BREYER – President Clinton (1994)
6. SAMUEL A. ALITO, JR. – President Bush (2006)
7. SONIA SOTOMAYOR – President Obama (2009)
8. ELENA KAGAN – President Obama (2010)
Recently Retired Justices:
SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR – President Reagan (1981) – Retired June 2006
DAVID H. SOUTER – President Bush (1990) – Retired June 2009
JOHN PAUL STEVENS – President Ford (1975) – Retired June 2010
The U.S. Supreme Court Justices
Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr
Associate Justice
Bush - 2006
Stephen G. Breyer
Sonia Sotomayor Associate Justice
Associate Justice
Clinton - 1994
Obama - 2009
Clarence Thomas
Associate Justice
Bush - 1991
Elena Kagan
Associate Justice
Obama - 2010
John G. Roberts Anthony M. Kennedy
Antonin Scalia
Associate Justice
Chief Justice
Associate Justice
Reagan - 1988
Bush - 2005
Reagan – 1986
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
(longest serving)
Associate Justice
Clinton - 1993
The 11 U.S. presidents since World War II have appointed 28
Supreme Court members. Republicans 17, Democrats 11.
President
Harry Truman
Dwight Eisenhower
John Kennedy
Lyndon Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush
Barack H. Obama
- Kagan
- Sotomayor
Party
Democrat
Republican
Democrat
Democrat
Republican
Republican
Democrat
Republican
Republican
Democrat
Republican
Democrat
Appointments
4
5
2
2
4
1
0
3
2
2
2
2
The U.S. Federal Court System
How Cases Make it to the U.S. Supreme Court
Each year, about 4,500 cases are requested for review by the Supreme Court.
Less than 200 cases are actually decided by the Court each year.
There are 3 ways for a case to make its way to the US Supreme Court.
1. There are cases in which the US Supreme Court has Original Jurisdiction
(heard there first). Cases in which a state is a party and cases dealing with diplomatic
personnel, like ambassadors, are the two examples.
2. Those cases appealed from lower federal courts can be heard at the
Supreme Court. Some laws obligate (or force) the Supreme Court to hear them. But
most come up for review on the writ of certiorari, a discretionary writ that the court
grants or refuses at its own discretion. The writ is granted if 4 of the justices want it
to be heard.
3. The US Supreme Court reviews appeals from state supreme courts that
present substantial "federal questions," usually where a constitutional right has been
denied in the state courts.
In both civil and criminal law, the Supreme Court is the final court of appeal.
Famous U.S. Supreme Court Cases
MARBURY v. MADISON (1803)
Judicial Review, Federalism
BROWN v. BOARD of EDUCATION (1954)
School Segregation, Equal Protection
MIRANDA v. ARIZONA (1966) Criminal Suspect's Rights Include
Being Informed of Rights to Counsel and to Remain Silent
TINKER v. DES MOINES (1969)
Student Speech, Symbolic Speech
ROE v. WADE (1973)
Abortion, Right of Privacy
UNITED STATES v. NIXON (1974)
Watergate, Checks and Balances
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
 Marbury v. Madison (1803) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in which
the Court formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United
States under Article III of the Constitution.
 The landmark decision helped define the boundary between the
constitutionally separate executive and judicial branches of the American
form of government.
 The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury, who
had been appointed Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia by President
John Adams but whose commission was not subsequently delivered.
 Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to force the new Secretary of State James
Madison to deliver the documents.
 The Court, with John Marshall as Chief Justice, found firstly that Madison's refusal
to deliver the commission was both illegal and remediable.
 Nonetheless, the Court stopped short of compelling Madison (by writ of
mandamus) to hand over Marbury's commission, instead holding that the provision
of the Judiciary Act of 1789 that enabled Marbury to bring his claim to the Supreme
Court was itself unconstitutional, since it purported to extend the Court's original
jurisdiction beyond that which Article III established. The petition was therefore
denied.
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), was a landmark U.S. Supreme
Court case in which the Court declared state laws establishing separate public
schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.
 In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of
Topeka, Kansas in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. The plaintiffs
were 13 Topeka parents on behalf of their 20 children.
 The decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896, which allowed
state-sponsored segregation, insofar as it applied to public education.
 Handed down on May 17, 1954, the Warren Court's unanimous (9–0) decision
stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
 As a result, de jure racial segregation was ruled a violation of the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
 This ruling paved the way for integration and was a major victory of the civil
rights movement.
MIRANDA v. ARIZONA (1966)
 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
which passed 5–4. The Court held that both inculpatory and exculpatory statements
made in response to interrogation by a defendant in police custody will be
admissible at trial only if the prosecution can show that the defendant was informed
of the right to consult with an attorney before and during questioning and of the right
against self-incrimination prior to questioning by police, and that the defendant not
only understood these rights, but voluntarily waived them.
 This had a significant impact on law enforcement in the U.S., by making what
became known as the Miranda rights part of routine police procedure to ensure
that suspects were informed of their rights.
 The Miranda warning (often abbreviated to "Miranda," or "Mirandizing" a suspect) is
the name of the formal warning that is required to be given by police in the U.S. to
criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial situation) before they are
interrogated, in accordance with the Miranda ruling.
 Its purpose is to ensure the accused are aware of, and reminded of, these
rights under the U.S. Constitution, and that they know they can invoke them at
any time during the interview.
TINKER v. DES MOINES (1969)
 Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) was a
decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that defined the constitutional rights of
students in U.S. public schools. The Tinker test is still used by courts today to
determine whether a school's disciplinary actions violate students' 1st Amendment
rights. The court's 7:2 decision held that the 1st Amendment applied to public
schools, and that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid
reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom.

In 1965, Des Moines, Iowa residents John F. Tinker (15 years old), his siblings Mary Beth Tinker (13 years
old), Hope Tinker (11 years old), & Paul Tinker (8 years old), along with their friend Christopher Eckhardt (16
years old) decided to wear black armbands to their schools in protest of the Vietnam War and
supporting the Christmas Truce called for by Senator Robert F. Kennedy. The principals of the Des Moines
schools learned of the plan and met on December 14 to create a policy that stated that school children
wearing an armband would be asked to remove it immediately. Violating students would be suspended and
allowed to return to school after agreeing to comply with the policy. The participants decided to violate this
policy. Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt were suspended from school for wearing armbands on
December 16th & John Tinker was suspended for doing the same on the following day. (The two youngest
participants were not punished.) Mary Beth, Christopher, and John were suspended from school until after
January 1, 1966, when their protest had been scheduled to end.

A suit was not filed until after the Iowa Civil Liberties Union approached their family, and the ACLU agreed to
help the family with the lawsuit. Their parents, in turn, filed suit in U.S. District Court, which upheld the
decision of the Des Moines school board. A tie vote in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit meant
that the U.S. District Court's decision continued to stand, and forced the Tinkers and Eckhardts to appeal to
the Supreme Court directly. The case was argued before the court on November 12, 1968.
ROE v. WADE (1973)
 Roe v. Wade (1973), is a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue of
abortion.
 Decided simultaneously with a companion case, Doe v. Bolton, the Court ruled 7–2 that a right
to privacy under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment extended to a woman's
decision to have an abortion, but that this right must be balanced against the state's 2
legitimate interests in regulating abortions: protecting prenatal life & protecting
women's health.
 Arguing that these state interests became stronger over the course of a pregnancy, the Court
resolved this balancing test by tying state regulation of abortion to the 3rd trimester of
pregnancy.
 The Court later rejected Roe '​s trimester framework, while affirming Roe '​s central holding that a
person has a right to abortion until viability. The Roe decision defined "viable" as being
"potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid", adding that viability
"is usually placed at about seven months (28 weeks) but may occur earlier, even at 24 weeks.“
 In disallowing many state & federal restrictions on abortion in the U.S., Roe v. Wade prompted
a national debate that continues today about issues including whether, and to what extent,
abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of abortion, what methods the
Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication, and what the role should be of
religious and moral views in the political sphere.
 Roe v. Wade reshaped national politics, dividing much of the United States into pro-choice
and pro-life camps, while activating grassroots movements on both sides.
UNITED STATES v. NIXON (1974)
 United States v. Nixon (1974) was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision.
 It resulted in a unanimous 8–0 ruling against President Richard Nixon and was
important to the late stages of the Watergate scandal.
 It is considered a crucial precedent limiting the power of any US president.
The Watergate scandal began during the campaign between Democratic Senator George McGovern of South Dakota and President Nixon. On
June 17, 1972, about 5 months before the general election, 5 burglars broke into Democratic headquarters located in the Watergate building
complex in Washington, DC.
In May 1973, Nixon's Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, appointed Archibald Cox to the position of special prosecutor, charged with
investigating the break-in. In October Nixon arranged to have Cox fired in the Saturday Night Massacre. However, public outrage forced Nixon
to appoint a new special prosecutor, Leon Jaworski, who was charged with conducting the Watergate investigation for the government.
In April 1974, Jaworski obtained a subpoena ordering Nixon to release certain tapes and papers related to specific meetings between the
President and those indicted by the grand jury. Those tapes and the conversations they revealed were believed to contain damaging evidence
involving the indicted men and perhaps the President himself.
Hoping Jaworski and the public would be satisfied, Nixon turned over edited transcripts of 43 conversations, including portions of 20
conversations demanded by the subpoena. James D. St. Clair, Nixon's attorney, then requested Judge John Sirica of the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia to quash the subpoena. While arguing before Sirica, St. Clair stated that: "The President wants me to argue that he is
as powerful a monarch as Louis XIV, only 4 years at a time, and is not subject to the processes of any court in the land except the court of
impeachment."
Sirica denied Nixon's motion and ordered the President to turn the tapes over by May 31. Both Nixon and Jaworski appealed directly to the
Supreme Court which heard arguments on July 8. Nixon's attorney argued the matter should not be subject to "judicial resolution" since the
matter was a dispute within the executive branch and the branch should resolve the dispute itself. Also, he claimed Special Prosecutor
Jaworski had not proven the requested materials were absolutely necessary for the trial of the seven men. Besides, he claimed Nixon had an
absolute executive privilege to protect communications between "high Government officials and those who advise and assist them in carrying
out their duties.“
Nixon resigned 15 days later, on August 9, 1974 (instead of facing Impeachment).