The Supreme Court – GCSE Government and Politics CCEA Revision

Overview of The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is central to the US Judicial branch, as laid out in Article III of the US Constitution.
It represents the final word on the constitutionality of legislation and acts as the highest court of appeal in the country.
The Court comprises of nine Justices, usually with eight associate justices and one chief justice.
These Justices are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for lifetime tenures ensuring their independence from political pressures.

The main role of the Supreme Court is to ensure that American laws comply with the US Constitution through a process known as Judicial Review.
It resolves disputes between states, interprets the constitution, and makes decisions that can establish precedents for future cases.
It can declare actions by the President and laws made by Congress as unconstitutional, effectively making it a powerful check on the other branches of government.

Judicial review is an essential function of the Supreme Court, this gives it the power to declare laws unconstitutional.
This fundamental power was not explicitly given in the Constitution but was established in the landmark case Marbury v. Madison (1803).
Through judicial review, the Court can steer legal interpretation, which can have significant societal effects.

In Brown v. Board of Education (1954) the Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in public schools as unconstitutional, overturning the previous “separate but equal” doctrine.
The Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade (1973) that a state law that banned abortions (except to save the life of the mother) was unconstitutional, effectively legalising abortion across all states.
In the case Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The Chief Justice presides over the Supreme Court. Current Chief Justice, as of 2020, is John G. Roberts.
Justices, once appointed, serve for life or until they choose to retire, unless they’re impeached.
This lifetime tenure established in the Constitution is to ensure independence from political pressures.

The Supreme Court, through judicial review, can declare acts of Congress or the President unconstitutional, restricting their actions.
However, the Court’s decisions can be largely ignored if they’re not enforced by the executive or legislative branches.
Congress has the power to amend the Constitution to override judicial decisions. It can also theoretically restrict the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.
This system of checks and balances thus involves all three branches, as envisaged by the Constitution.