The nature and role of the Supreme Court

Question 1

Why is it significant that the SC sits at the top of the federal judiciary?

Answer 1

It means that the SC has the final say over all legal matters in the US

Question 2

Who are SC judges appointed by under the constitution?

Answer 2

The president, but this must be confirmed by a majority vote in the senate

Question 3

What happens once SC judges have been appointed and confirmed?

Answer 3

They hold office for life, ‘during good behaviour’ as article III of the constitution puts it

Question 4

What is the only way SC judges can be removed as a result of this?

Answer 4

Via the impeachment process

Question 5

How can a SC justice be removed via the impeachment process?

Answer 5

The House must impeach a justice by a simple majority and the Senate must then try that justice . If found guilty by the senate by a 2/3 majority, the justice will be removed from office

Question 6

Does this ever happen?

Answer 6

No SC justice has ever been successfully impeached

Question 7

What are the other ways an SC justice can go other than impeachment?

Answer 7

Voluntary retirement or death

Question 7

What is the only real occasion where this threat has meant anything?

Answer 7

Associate justice Abe Fortas resigned rather than facing impeachment in 1968

Question 8

When was the Judiciary Act passed?

Answer 8

1789

Question 9

What did the act do?

Answer 9

Allowed congress to set up a system of lower federal courts

Question 10

What federal courts are directly below the SC?

Answer 10

13 courts of appeals, known as circuit courts

Question 11

What is directly below these circuit courts?

Answer 11

94 trial courts known as district courts

Question 12

How can cases reach the SC?

Answer 12

• Through these lower federal courts; once a case has been decided in the district courts, it may be appealed to one of the circuit courts and from there the SC
• Cases may also arrive from the state SCs, if questions involving state laws or government are raised

Question 13

Why is there no automatic right to have ones case heard before the SC?

Answer 13

Because it hears only those cases that it decides are of major constitutional significance

Question 14

Whose ideas were the FF influenced by?

Answer 14

Montesquieu

Question 15

What did Montesquieu argue?

Answer 15

‘There is no liberty if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislature and executive’

Question 16

What is in place to reinforce the independence of the SC?

Answer 16

Structural measures

Question 17

Who makes up the SC?

Answer 17

9 members - one chief justice and 8 associate justices

Question 18

Who is the number of justices fixed by?

Answer 18

Congress

Question 19

When was the last time the number of justices changed?

Answer 19

1869

Question 20

Where will justices sit when the court is in session?

Answer 20

Along a bench at the front of in the chamber on high back chairs with a backdrop of plush red curtain

Question 21

Who sits in the middle of the 9 justices?

Answer 21

A chief justice

Question 22

Why is there a chief justice?

Answer 22

Although the powers of the chief justice are in most respects the same as the 8 associate justices, they have the opportunity to set the tone of the SC

Question 23

Who is the current chief justice?

Answer 23

John Roberts

Question 24

How many people have held the office of the the course of 230 years?

Answer 24

16

Question 25

What will commentators often use the name of the chief justice to do?

Answer 25

To denote an era in the courts history

Question 26

What is the current party balance in the SC?

Answer 26

6 Rs and 3 Ds

Question 27

List the factors that reinforce SC independence

Answer 27

• Although article III of the constitution gives congress the power to change the composition of the SC, it has not done this since 1869
• The consistent structure of 9 judges has prevented the other branches of government from attempting to pack the court with their allies. This structural rule has greatly enhanced the role of the SC over the last 150 years
• Once they have been confirmed and appointed, article III of the constitution states that SC justices will have the role for life and cannot be dismissed if congress or the president disagrees with their decisions
• Likewise, their salary is protected by article III, which acts as further protection from either congress or the president using salary as a leverage against the justice
• This structural security allows justices the autonomy and independence to make whatever judgements they feel to be correct without fear of reprisal from either the executive or legislature
• The separation of powers grants SC constitutional independence while judicial review allows the SC to check the powers of the president and congress
• The American Bar Association (ABA) is an interest group made up of professional lawyers rather than political actors. When justices are nominated, the ABA rates the suitability of the nominee and their understanding of both the law and the constitution, Arguably, this provides a non-political quality control mechanism on nominations. The ABA ratings are ‘qualified’, ‘well qualified’ and ‘not qualified’
• Once appointed, justice are there for life. Some have gone on to ‘disappoint’ their political patrons who initially put them in post

Question 28

List the factors that undermine SC independence

Answer 28

• Congress retains the power to alter SC composition, which could be done for political reasons in order to undermine the independence of the court by increasing the number of judges allied to the government. FDR considered increasing the size of the court, to overcome opposition to his New Deal legislation in the 1930s, but was frustrated by a congress disinclined to cooperate
• Members of the court can only be removed via the impeachment process. The House must impeach a justice by a simple majority and the Senate must try the justice. If found guilty in the senate by a 2/3 majority, the justice is then removed from office. This technically challenges the independence of the SC and could be used as a political weapon. However, no SC justice has ever been impeached. This means justices only ever leave the court via voluntary resignation or death
• The SC lacks enforcement powers. The most famous example of the SC struggling to enforce its ruling was after the Brown vs Board of Education for Topeka (1954) directive that southern schools should desegregate with ‘all deliberate speed’ when southern state district judges allowed long delays in enforcing desegregation. In 1957, Governor Faubus of Arkansas used the local militia to forcibly prevent black children from entering a high school and it was only upon the instruction of President Eisenhower that federal troops allowed black children to enter the school
• The independence and neutrality of the ABA has recently come into question. Research by professor Maya Sen (2015) has suggested that female and minority ethnic judicial nominees are generally more likely to receive lower ratings than white males, even after controlling for education, experience and partisanship. Black American Justice Clarence Thomas was only deemed ‘qualified’ and his treatment could be seen as an example of this bias
• All SC judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by a simple majority vote in the senate. This puts elected politicians at the heart of choosing the composition of the court