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As the final arbiter of the law, the Court is charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is “distinctly American in concept and function,” as Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes observed.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;–to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls;–to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction …
The Constitution generally grants Congress control over the size and structure of the federal courts and, during the first century of the Republic, Congress enacted multiple statutes changing the size of the Supreme Court. However, since the Reconstruction era, the Court’s size has been set at nine Justices.
Law and order are the prerogatives of the government, but the Constitution of India also provides that if the government is not able to handle the law and order, the Supreme Court can intervene. … Therefore, the Supreme Court can make the final interpretation of the laws.
As the final arbiter of the law, the Court is charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution.
To further assure their independence, the Constitution provides that judges’ salaries may not be diminished while they are in office. The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869.
To insulate the federal judiciary from political influence, the Constitution specifies that Supreme Court Justices “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour.” While the Constitution does not define “good Behaviour,” the prevailing interpretation is that Congress cannot remove Supreme Court Justices from office …
The Supreme Court can remove the president for the electoral malpractices or upon being not eligible to be a member of the Lok Sabha under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. … A resolution to impeach the president has to be passed by a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of the originating house.
How are Supreme Court Justices selected? The President nominates someone for a vacancy on the Court and the Senate votes to confirm the nominee, which requires a simple majority. In this way, both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government have a voice in the composition of the Supreme Court.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any …
The Supreme Court receives about 10,000 petitions a year. The Justices use the “Rule of Four” to decide if they will take the case. If four of the nine Justices feel the case has value, they will issue a writ of certiorari. … The majority of the Supreme Court’s cases today are heard on appeal from the lower courts.
noun (in the US) the highest Federal court, possessing final appellate jurisdiction and exercising supervisory jurisdiction over the lower courts.
Year | Chief Justice | Associate Justices |
---|---|---|
2017 | $263,300 | $251,800 |
2018 | $267,000 | $255,300 |
2019 | $270,700 | $258,900 |
2020 | $277,700 | $265,600 |
The number of justices serving in the Supreme Court eventually changed six times before 1869, according to the Supreme Court. … Congress cut the number back to seven after Lincoln’s death after squabbles with President Andrew Johnson and eventually settled on nine again in 1869 under President Ulysses S. Grant.
The justices have broad latitude to decide which cases they will hear and generally hear only those cases they deem to raise the most important issues. … The solicitor general is the lawyer who represents the United States before the Supreme Court in cases where the federal government is a party.
With the swearing-in of the nine new judges, the strength of the Supreme Court has risen to 33, including the CJI, out of the sanctioned strength of 34.
The lifetime appointment is designed to ensure that the justices are insulated from political pressure and that the court can serve as a truly independent branch of government. Justices can’t be fired if they make unpopular decisions, in theory allowing them to focus on the law rather than politics.
While justices can be accused, tried and even found guilty of any crime, they won’t lost their Supreme Court seat because of any sentence. The only way a justice on the Supreme Court can be removed is by impeachment and subsequent conviction.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. The appeals from the courts of the country are handled by it and protect the citizens from violation of their fundamental rights. The decisions of the Supreme Court can also be reviewed by the executive, that is, the President.
In order to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court, a person must be a citizen of India and must have been, for atleast five years, a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession, or an Advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession for at least 10 years or he must be, …
The President is the head of the State in India. The President is called the first citizen of the country. All the laws in the country are made and passed in the name of the President of India. Though the President is called the head of the Indian State but he is the nominal executive authority.
Supreme Court justices are entitled to employ four law clerks each term. (The chief justice can hire a fifth law clerk, but only once—John Roberts in 2005—has a chief done so.) Thus, in a decade-long period, justices in active service hire a maximum of 360 clerks.
When state law and federal law conflict, federal law displaces, or preempts, state law, due to the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. … In some cases, such as medical devices, Congress preempted all state regulation.
The Supremacy Clause of the Constitution of the United States (Article VI, Clause 2), establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the “supreme Law of the Land”, and thus take priority over any conflicting state laws.
This is a very important part of the American political structure because it ensures that, where the United States Constitution grants power to the national government, laws enacted by that national government outrank – or take precedence – over laws enacted by state governments.
For these reasons, the Supreme Court almost never hears cases to decide questions of state law, to correct errors in the factual findings of judges or juries, to review whether a court properly applied settled law, or to decide novel questions of law that have not been widely considered in the lower courts.
The United States Supreme Court is a federal court, meaning in part that it can hear cases prosecuted by the U.S. government. … The Court can also hear just about any kind of state-court case, as long as it involves federal law, including the Constitution.
It’s hard to say just how many hours Justices spend working per week. What is known is that each month, they only have about 12 days of official responsibilities, at the most.