What makes the supreme court special

The Judiciary Act of gave the Supreme Court original jurisdiction to issue writs of mandamus legal orders compelling government officials to act in accordance with the law.

A suit was brought under this Act, but the Supreme Court noted that the Constitution did not permit the Court to have original jurisdiction in this matter. In subsequent cases, the Court also established its authority to strike down state laws found to be in violation of the Constitution. Before the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment , the provisions of the Bill of Rights were only applicable to the federal government.

After the Amendment's passage, the Supreme Court began ruling that most of its provisions were applicable to the states as well. Therefore, the Court has the final say over when a right is protected by the Constitution or when a Constitutional right is violated. The Supreme Court plays a very important role in our constitutional system of government. First, as the highest court in the land, it is the court of last resort for those looking for justice.

Second, due to its power of judicial review, it plays an essential role in ensuring that each branch of government recognizes the limits of its own power. Third, it protects civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution. The Chief Justice exercises general control over judicial administrative affairs, and directs and supervises the officials concerned in regard thereof.

Important judicial administrative affairs require resolution of the Council of Supreme Court Justices. The Council of Supreme Court Justices is the highest deliberative body in judicial administration. The Council is composed of all the Justices and presided over by the Chief Justice. A resolution of the Council requires a quorum of more than two-thirds of all the Justices and the consent of a majority of the members present.

The Chief Justice has a vote in a resolution, and in case of a tie, the casting vote. The Council passes resolution on consent to the appointment of the lower court judges, establishment or revision of the Supreme Court Rules and Regulations, accumulation and publication of judicial precedents, request for budget, expenditure of reserve fund, settlement of accounts, and such matters as deemed of particular importance and as referred to it by the Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court may establish rules and regulations, under its judicial law-making powers, concerning judicial proceedings, discipline within the courts, or management of business insofar as they are not contrary to law. As mentioned above, resolution by the Council is required when establishing the Supreme Court Rules and Regulations.

The Marshall Court was in session for 34 years, from until Chief Justice Roberts was 50 years of age when he took the oath in , while Marshall was 45 years old when he became chief justice. The second chief justice only lasted a few months on the job. John Rutledge was a recess appointment to the court in , to replace John Jay. However, Rutledge criticized Congress in a public speech, and a few months later, the Senate rejected his permanent nomination to the bench.

There was a Supreme Court justice who was born in Turkey. Justice David J. Both Brewer and Field became Supreme Court justices and served together on the bench. The Supreme Court also has "original jurisdiction" in a very small number of cases arising out of disputes between States or between a State and the Federal Government. When the Supreme Court rules on a constitutional issue, that judgment is virtually final; its decisions can be altered only by the rarely used procedure of constitutional amendment or by a new ruling of the Court.

However, when the Court interprets a statute, new legislative action can be taken. Chief Justice Marshall expressed the challenge which the Supreme Court faces in maintaining free government by noting: "We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding.

Bush , and C. Roberts appointed by George W. Justice Kennedy is more moderate than the conservative justices. His views tend to be more libertarian than, for example, those of Chief Justice Roberts. The Court and Constitutional Interpretation. From the U. Supreme Court web site www. The addition of Kagan, 50, to the Court is not expected to change the overall balance of the Court.

Justice Kennedy will remain the key swing vote on many issues. Kagan biography. Assignment Let's take a case through from its initial Supreme Court decision to final decision.

The case is the landmark home privacy decision, Stanley v Georgia. Examine the documents and records below sufficiently to understand the purpose of each document and its potential significance to the outcome of the case: 1 Jurisdictional Statement for Robert Stanley Note: A Jurisdictional statement is virtually identical in purpose and substance to a p etition for certiorari. Politics and the Supreme Court Few would deny that the political values of justices, as well as theories of constitutional interpretation, play a role in their decisions in specific cases.

The conservative wing of the Court, for example, generally favors a restrictive interpretation of the federal commerce power and therefore a broad view of states' rights , favors an expansive interpretation of the 11th Amendment, and rarely votes to overturn criminal convictions. The conservatives also take a skeptical view of affirmative action, are likely to reject most substantive due process, procedural due process, and establishment clause claims, and are generally reluctant to expand the fundamental rights strand of equal protection law unless the plaintiff is George Bush, cynics would say.