The Constitution and the Court Blog

The Constitution and the Court 

As one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, supreme courts throughout the world, the United States Supreme Court interprets the 200 year old Constitution to determine the legality of issues throughout the country today. Nine justices serve on the Supreme Court and are sworn in for life after the President selects them to become a justice. Despite the justices being sworn in for life, the average tenure of a Supreme Court Justice is around 16 years.  The Supreme Court has helped decide cases that have changed the lives of the American people and its legal systems. Some of the most famous cases include:

• Roe v. Wade
• Marbury v. Madison
• Brown v. Board of Education
• Dred Scott v. Sandford
• Mapp v. Ohio 

Petitions for certiorari are another huge component of the Supreme Court. Every year, the Supreme Court receives thousands of petitions trying to convince the Supreme Court that a lower court's ruling was incorrect. However, only around one-hundred of these petitions ever make it through, as the court does not accept many of these petitions. When these petitions and written arguments are given to the Justices, they usually have a small team of legal clerks and secretaries to help them. Ultimately though, it is only the Justice's choice for deciding each case. 

When a case eventually makes it to the Supreme Court, lawyers from the opposing sides are allowed 30 minutes to present their case to the court. This is called oral argument and the Justices will often ask each side questions and also ask the lawyers to present their most important arguments for the case.  This is also for the Justices to highlight points they found important or interesting and to make sure that their fellow justices also know what they're thinking about. The Justices in the video find this point to be very important, as they want every one of their colleagues to at least have in mind the point or question that they brought up.