The Supreme Court of the United States is at the top of the nation's judicial branch - what does that really mean though and who gets to be a Supreme Court justice? Nick has the answers in this SCOTUS explainer.
Class Discussion Questions:
1) What characteristics would be important for a Supreme Court Justice?
2) Do you think it is a good idea for Supreme Court Justices to have their jobs for life? Support your answer.
Read the Script:
[Nick] You might be surprised to hear that even states get into quarrels from time to time. Well, rather than settle it with a game of rock, paper, scissors, they head to this place.
[Voiceover] The Supreme Court of the Unite States.
[Nick] Or SCOTUS, for short. It is at the very top of the nation's judicial branch. Inside, a group of nine judges, also called justices, decide cases about big players like states, ambassadors, and even the federal government.
For example, in the 1838 case of Rhode Island v. Massachusetts, two states went to court to determine their shared border. Then there was Virginia v. Tennessee in 1893 to clarify their borders, and New Mexico v. Texas in 1927 to settle their border near El Paso.
See a pattern? Most cases with states are over boundaries or shared water sources. Check any map, and you can see how those cases turned out. But these disputes are few and far between.
The majority of SCOTUS work centers on deciding what is and is not in line with the U.S. Constitution or with other laws made by Congress. The power to decide whether something is in line with the Constitution or not is called judicial review. Since the Constitution isn't a simple yes, do this, and no, don't do that list, we trust the justices with judicial review.
These types of cases involve all sorts of people, not just big players. Some cases have even involved students. Take for example the 1954 case of Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka.
Linda Brown was only in third grade when she was barred from attending a school designated for white students only. Her parents, along with others, sued the board of education for discrimination. The first court in the state of Kansas to hear the case sided with the board of education, saying it was okay to separate students by race.
But when the case was brought to the Supreme Court, the justices ruled that it was against the Constitution to split up the students, because it violated their civil rights. The case resulted in the desegregation of all schools, a huge accomplishment.
As you might imagine, there are a lot of these types of cases. In fact, thousands of them are brought to the Supreme Court each year. Usually, the court agrees to hear less than 100 cases each year.
In order to help lessen the load over time and to provide more clarity, the court writes down their decision with supporting evidence, so that in the future other judges can learn from past cases.
Now, you're probably wondering who gets to be a judge in the Supreme Court. Turns out there are no requirements to join SCOTUS, but the justices are appointed by the President of the United States with the approval of the Senate. Most have had previous careers as judges and lawyers.
Unlike the President, who can serve for only two four-year terms, justices can keep their job for life. That's a long time to be working and making decisions about the nation. But the point is for them to not worry about losing their job if they make a decision that others don't like.
Basically, it's the most important job you can have in the judicial branch, and those job openings don't come around very often. So, no rock, paper, scissors for SCOTUS.