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Supreme Court

US Supreme Court. What is it? The US Supreme Court is the most senior federal court in the US. It is mentioned in the Constitution, is independent under the separation of powers and currently has nine justices. What does it do? The Supreme Court mostly hears appeals about the Constitution and federal law. One of its key roles is judicially reviewing (including possibly striking down) Acts of Congress and, sometimes, state laws too. What has it done? The Supreme Court plays a relatively active role in US politics and its famous cases are numerous, but important cases decided since 2005 include: Citizens United v. FEC (2010): Congress violated the right to freedom of speech included in the Constitution when it enacted the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (2002), which banned spending in favour of political campaigns by independent corporations; NFIB v. Sebelius (2012): Congress does have the power to enact most of ‘Obamacare’ (through two Acts of Congress) into law, using its power in the Constitution to tax and spend for the “general Welfare”; Obergefell v. Hodges (2015): The rights to due process and equal protection in the Constitution mean that same-sex marriage must be put on the same footing as opposite-sex marriage across the US; Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation (2022): The right to privacy implied into the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion and, thus, Roe v. Wade (1973) is overturned and abortions can be banned.

Supreme Court judges. What do they believe? One way to judge US judges is by their approach to constitutional interpretation: Living constitution: The Constitution is adaptable and should be interpreted by taking into consideration wider society as it currently stands; Originalist: The Constitution should be interpreted according to what its authors (primarily the ‘founding fathers’) intended; Textualist: The Constitution should be interpreted simply by reading what is actually on the page. Another way to judge US judges is on a liberal-conservative spectrum — current Supreme Court judges are often put into three categories: liberals, moderate conservatives and strong conservatives. Who are they? Clarence Thomas has been a Justice since 1991. He was nominated by George HW Bush and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 52 to 48. For 2021, he has a Martin-Quinn score (effectively, the lower the score, the more ‘liberal’ the judge is and, the higher the score, the more ‘conservative’ the judge is) of 3.05. John Roberts has been Chief Justice since 2005. He was nominated by George W Bush and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 78 to 22. For 2021, he has a Martin-Quinn score of 0.706. Samuel Alito has been a Justice since 2006. He was nominated by George W Bush and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 58 to 42. For 2021, he has a Martin-Quinn score of 2.473. Sonia Sotomayor has been a Justice since 2009. She was nominated by Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 68 to 31. For 2021, she has a Martin-Quinn score of -4.137. Elana Kagan has been a Justice since 2010. She was nominated by Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 63 to 37. For 2021, she has a Martin-Quinn score of -1.849. Neil Gorsuch has been a Justice since 2017. He was nominated by Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 54 to 45. For 2021, he has a Martin-Quinn score of 1.049. Brett Kavanaugh has been a Justice since 2018. He was nominated by Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 50 to 48. For 2021, he has a Martin-Quinn score of 0.814. Amy Coney Barrett has been a Justice since 2020. She was nominated by Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 52 to 48. For 2021, he has a Martin-Quinn score of 1.347. Ketanji Brown Jackson has been a Justice since 2022. She was nominated by Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate by a margin of 53 to 47.

Becoming a Supreme Court judge. Vacancy: The Judiciary Act (1869) limited the number of Supreme Court judges to nine, where it remains today (although Congress could theoretically change this, it may be accused of ‘packing’ the court). Supreme Court justices serve for life, so vacancies most often appear when a Supreme Court justice has died. A vacancy can also appear if a Supreme Court justice resigns or is impeached and convicted (this has only happened once). Nomination: The Constitution gives the job of nominating (choosing) Supreme Court judges to the President. Picking a Supreme Court justice is one of the most impactful things that a President does, as their choice will likely affect US politics for a very long time, so they always need to pick carefully! Potential nominees will have their writings and opinions scrutinised (for their views), suffer an FBI check and the White House will be in constant contact with Senators for potential issues. Confirmation: The Constitution gives the job of confirming (resulting in appointment) Supreme Court justices to the Senate. First, the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider and vote on the candidate, a stage which involves public hearings. Then, the whole Senate will debate and vote whether to confirm the candidate, for which a majority is needed. Occasionally, the Senate will refuse to carry out the confirmation process, resulting in an informal rejection.

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