Chances are, you feel that your knowledge of the legislative and executive branches
is pretty strong after previous lessons on those two parts of government.
Now, we come to the judicial branch, which may be the one that most people know the least about.
My name is Caroline, and today we plan to change that!
Our objectives today are to describe the terms of office for the judges of the judicial branch,
list and describe the requirements of the US Supreme Court, describe how they are selected,
and explain the powers and duties of the judicial branch of government.
If you haven't already done so, now's the time to print out the guided notes.
Let's start with this: The term for justices or judges on the U.S. Supreme Court is life.
What you heard, right? Life! [An off-screen voice] What?! [Caroline] you heard right!
Life. It's not only Supreme Court justices, either: All federal judges serve life terms.
The U.S. Constitution states that federal judges demonstrating good behavior shall have life
terms. Resignations, death, and impeachment based on wrongdoing are the only exceptions.
And you thought a six-year term for senators was a long time. Remember, too,
that in addition to the U.S. Supreme Court, there are 94 U.S. District Courts, 12 Courts of Appeal,
and many courts with specific functions, such as those for taxes or international trade.
So, you remember how the offices of the legislative and executive branches
all have requirements of office regarding age, citizenship, and residency, right?
And you may now be wondering what the requirements are to be a justice on the Supreme Court. Well,
here is a list of those requirements. You may be thinking, "That's a blank page."
You're right. The Constitution lists absolutely no requirements to be a federal judge,
even on the U.S. Supreme Court — none! Judges on the Supreme Court have varied greatly,
especially since the mid-1900s. Six justices were born in four nations; the youngest was only 32.
That said, there is one commonality among all current and former Supreme Court justices:
they all worked as attorneys before earning a seat on America's highest court.
While the president and Congress are elected to their positions, Supreme Court justices
and all U.S. judges are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate.
The president submits their recommendation for a vacant position, whether it's a lower court
or the Supreme Court. The Senate then votes whether to confirm the candidate.
To be confirmed, a candidate must receive 51 votes of approval from the 100 members of the Senate.
The first Supreme Court included six members, including Chief Justice John Marshall.
All were selected by President George Washington.
Throughout most of the 1800s, that number fluctuated until 1869 when Congress settled
on nine. Membership on the U.S. Supreme Court has remained at nine since that time, although several
presidents since have discussed adding more justices to the nation's top court. To be clear,
as specified in the Constitution, only Congress has the power to add seats to the Supreme Court.
The president can recommend it, but only Congress can actually do it. In the early days of the U.S.,
the Supreme Court didn't really have a home. Its first meeting in 1790 was held in New York.
Then, the Supreme Court from 1791 until 1800 moved to Philadelphia, which served as the capital while
Washington, D.C., was being built. In early 1801, the court began meeting in Washington, where it
occupied various sites in the Capitol building for more than a century. Finally, in 1935, the
Supreme Court moved into its own building, located just down the street from the Capitol building.
So, the primary power of the legislative branch is to make laws,
and the main job of the executive branch is to enforce laws. But what does the Supreme Court do?
Simply put, their primary role is to interpret laws. What does that mean? Well, first and
foremost, it's up to the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the true meaning of a law. For example,
the First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
In simple terms, the courts have ruled repeatedly that the First
Amendment is designed to maintain a separation between church and state.
In other words, religion should remain separate from government.
The Supreme Court has maintained this stance since its inception, basically allowing individuals and
groups to worship as they see fit as long as it isn't pushed upon others by the government.
Another power of the Supreme Court is to review decisions made by lower courts.
The U.S. court system currently has three levels: District Courts,
Appeals Courts, and the Supreme Court. Decisions made in District Court can be
retried in the Appeals Court, and rulings there can be appealed to the Supreme Court. However,
the Supreme Court doesn't have to hear cases that are appealed to them; rather, the Supreme
Court selects less than 100 of the hundreds and even thousands appealed to them each year.
When selecting a case, the Supreme Court looks for those in which there may be an open question
regarding the Constitution or one of its 27 amendments. While the Supreme Court judges
whether laws and court rulings are constitutional, they do the same with executive actions, which are
decisions made by the president. More on these in the future as they pertain to the system of checks
and balances put into place by our founding fathers to maintain the separation of powers!
One final power of the U.S. Supreme Court is to make decisions on legal disputes between states.
That means that if two states can't reach an agreement to solve an issue, say, for example,
that if North Dakota and South Dakota argue over where the border between the two states should be,
then the Supreme Court would make the decision.
Requirements for the Supreme Court are much different from Congress and the president — the
top jobs in the other branches of government — as the Constitution doesn't specify any for
the judicial branch. While citizens vote to elect leaders to the executive and legislative branches,
Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate,
omitting voters from the process.
And they serve for life! Still, their duties are largely to interpret laws
and maintain checks on lawmakers and the commander in chief, maintaining the separation of powers
set forth in the Constitution. More to come on the judicial branch in a future lesson.
Vote, debate, and participate, young citizens, and remember to always be clever!