The Judicial Branch and Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices and one of those nine serves as the Chief Justice. For the past several years the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was Rehinquist. Now that George W. Bush has appointe John Roberts to the court, he has been chosen by the president to be the chief justice because he holds conservative views and is relatively young in age compared to the other justices.
All Supreme Court justices are hand picked by the president and must be confirmed by the Senate. In the past the Senate has rejected several judicial nominees made by the president because their views were too far to the left or right. One of the most controverisal nominees was Robert Bork who was ultra-conservative in his ideology. In past years the presidents have been trying to appoint justices of a wide range of backgrounds and ethnicities to gain the popular support of various ethnic groups. More women are being apointed to the court as are blacks and hispanics. In 1967 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the Supreme Court and he became the court’s first black justice.
The Supreme Court first got the ability to make policy making decisions under Chief Justice John Marshall who declared that the court had the power of judicial review through his interpretation of the Constitution. Therefore the court had the ability to set policy. Over the history of the Supreme Court the court has dealt with a wide range of issues including abortion, gun laws, laws during the Great Depression, laws during the Cold War and World War periods. Today one of the more interesting topics is evolution and the question of whether it is legal for teachers to teach evolution through science and the belief that man descended through apes instead of from god.
The structure of the Supreme Court is broken down in a very specific way. The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the land. Underneath it are the U.S. Court of Appeals 12th Circuit, the U.S. Military Court and the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals 13th Circuit. Under the 12th Circuit Court are District Courts, Territorial Courts which include the Virign Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam, and the U.S. Tax Court. Under the U.S. military court is the Court of military Review followed by the U.S. Court of Veterans. The other court, the 13th Circuit Court of Federal Appeals contains the U.S. Claims Court and U.S. Court of International Trade.
