The Supreme Court

Supreme Court

    The Supreme Court is not just the most powerful court system in America, it is the most powerful court system in the world. Containing nine justices, the Supreme Court posses the ability to alter the United States justice system, in both a positive and negative manner. The court makes decisions whose realms stretch the span of the country, reaching every individual, effecting the way the United States runs and the way the law shapes our views.

    In 1789, the Supreme Court was established, it was built with the hopes of power but initially lacked the ability to even be well respected. It began as just another court but quickly transitioned into a structure embodying some of the most influential powers, made up by with the most profound justices in America. Supreme Court justices do not apply for the position, they are rather appointed by the President of the United States, with the request to serve the country in the most Constitutional way possible. In the 232 years of Supreme Court history, there has been 115 justices. These honorable justices typically serve an average of sixteen years, but many serve from the time of apportion, up until their death.

    A very unique quality of the Supreme Court is their ability to choose the cases they take on. Unlike the other court levels, the Supreme Court is not required to take on any case that comes through its doors. Cases that reach the Supreme Court are cases with significant federal law violations, and that of which have the ability to impact the population in drastic ways. Cases that reach the Supreme Court must have previously gone through both District and Appellate Courts. 

    The Supreme Court receives hundreds of thousands of cases each week but, they only accept around 100 of those cases each year. This results in many cases being dismissed by the Supreme Court and left to be regarded by the decision of the Appellate Court system. On the rare occasion that the case is accepted, lawyers are granted 30 minutes to present their facts to the justices. During the time of presentation, justices are responsible to begin deciphering the information, creating thought patters, and begin to form an opinion as well as reasoning to support that decision. When the hearing is concluded, justices must begin working on creating an opinion draft. An opinion draft is the mont time consuming part of deciding the verdict. These papers are lengthy; explaining why the justice chose the side they did, using facts presented by lawyers to support their decision. These opinion drafts go on to be shared with fellow justices, who collaborate in order to determine the final verdict. Upon the final decision, the Supreme Court is then notified by phone as to when the verdict may be released to the press.