THE SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)

Hey yall,

  What with all the news about the Supreme Court of the United States  (SCOTUS) overseeing the Judicial branch of our democratic republic as a co-equal branch with the Executive branch, that the president oversees,  I thought that some research into the court and its current panel of justices led by Chief Justice Roberts, might be helpful. 

  I hope this helps clarify the court and its relationship to the other branches as current events center around the subject. I wanted to learn more about it and share with my peeps. :)

  The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the top court of the land and the highest judicial authority in the country...  as is said, "The buck stops here."

  The Constitution gives SCOTUS the power to interpret the Constitution, settle legal disputes, and shape the nation’s laws through its deliberations and rulings.

 SCOTUS was established in 1789 by the U.S. Constitution. Since, the Court has played a critical role in defining the balance of power between the federal government and the states, as well as safeguarding the rights of Americans.

 The Supreme Court primarily functions as the last stop, after the issue at hand has worked its way up through the lower federal courts or state supreme courts.  

  Unlike Congress...which creates laws, or the president... who enforces laws, the Court's role is to interpret laws and determine their constitutionality. 

  This authority, known as judicial review, was established in the landmark case Marbury v. Madison (1803), which gave the Court the power to strike down laws or executive actions that careful discussion and debate has shown to be unconstitutional. 

  Note: This very thing is happening now as the current administration pushes the envelope and rejects the authority vested in SCOTUS by our Constitution on many issues thought to be settled long ago. The long-set law that being born in the USA makes one a citizen has been challenged recently for example.

  A position on the Supreme Court is a very good gig as justices are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, serving lifetime appointments to insulate them from political pressure.The Court is now divided sharply along partisan lines with justices appointed by Republican presidents taking increasingly conservative positions and those appointed by Democrats taking moderate liberal positions.  

The Court’s decisions have far-reaching implications as they can shape American society on issues ranging from civil rights and free speech to reproductive rights and corporate regulation and much more.

Composition of the Court

 The Supreme Court is composed of nine justices: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. The number of justices has remained at nine since 1869, though Congress has the authority to change this number. Justices can only be removed through impeachment, a process that has NEVER successfully removed a sitting justice.

  The current Court, often regarded as one of the most conservative in recent history, has been at the center of political controversy more than it has since its inception. 

  SCOTUS is composed of six conservative judges and three liberal ones, the conservative majority's decisions on voting rights, reproductive freedoms, executive power, and business regulations have been shaped by the Court’s ideological leanings. 

  This particular court has increasingly used its "shadow docket," issuing major decisions without full hearings or detailed explanations, drawing criticism for a lack of transparency. 

(For more about the Shadow Docket, its importance and the controversy surrounding it of late. Go to: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/supreme-court-shadow-docket to get a deep dive by Harry Isaiah Black and Alicia Bannon published a couple years ago by BennanCenter.org) 

Public Perception and Controversy

  Public trust in the Supreme Court has fluctuated over the years, often aligning with its most high-profile decisions. Recent rulings on abortion (Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization), affirmative action, and presidential immunity have further polarized public opinion. Critics argue that the Court has become overly partisan, with justices acting as political operatives rather than neutral arbiters of the law.

  Ethical concerns have also plagued the Court, with revelations about justices accepting undisclosed gifts, luxury trips, and financial benefits from wealthy donors. Calls for a formal code of ethics have grown louder, but the justices remain largely self-regulated. Many think that a change in this regard is a long time coming.

Looking Ahead

  The Supreme Court's influence on American democracy grows exponentially alongside our technical and social growth. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pending_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases there are several upcoming cases on issues like, whether the ADA and Rehabilitation Act require children with disabilities to satisfy a uniquely stringent "bad faith or gross misjudgment" standard when seeking relief for discrimination relating to their education, slated for oral arguments to begin on April 28, 2025.

Another upcoming debate centers around whether the court of appeals erred in holding that the structure of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force violates the Appointments Clause, U.S. Const. Art. II, § 2, Cl. 2, and in declining to sever the statutory provision that it found to unduly insulate the Task Force from the HHS Secretary’s supervision....tough issues to be sure. (SEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pending_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases for more examples)

As we delve deeper into this series, we will examine each justice’s background, judicial philosophy, and key rulings—starting with Chief Justice John Roberts, the BIg man, Top Dog, and Leader of the nation’s highest court.

John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States,

Chief Justice Roberts was born in Buffalo, New York, January 27, 1955. He married Jane Sullivan some 29 years ago and they have two children - Josephine and Jack. 

  He received an A.B. (Bachelors of Art degree) from Harvard College in 1976 and a J.D. {Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence, the only qualifying law degree in the USA and Philippines) from Harvard Law School in 1979. 

  Roberts served as a law clerk for Judge Henry J. Friendly of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1979–1980, and as a law clerk for then-Associate Justice William H. Rehnquist of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1980 Term.

  Justice Robert's other services include: Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States from 1981–1982, Associate Counsel to President Ronald Reagan, White House Counsel’s Office from 1982–1986, and as Principal Deputy Solicitor General from 1989–1993. 

From 1986–1989 and 1993–2003, he practiced law in Washington, D.C. , serving  as a Judge on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2003–2005.

And, lastly, Roberts was nominated as Chief Justice of the United States by President George W. Bush, assumed that office on September 29, 2005, and has now served for more than twenty years.

  Justice Roberts recently and a little surprisingly, considering his decisions surrounding President Donald Trump in the past, appeared to push back against calls from President Donald Trump to impeach judges whose rulings conflicted with the Trump administration's deportation plans.

  Trump's recent full scale assault on the federal judges who disagree with his executive orders pertaining to deportation of people without due process and him basically defying the court's authority in the face of the Constitutional take that everyone has a right to due process, is what prompted an unprecedented and surprising rebuke from the conservative head of the Supreme Court. 

  The administration's assertion that the Executive branch has the right to deport people without making sure that they are indeed criminals, has led Chief Justice Roberts to publicly admonish the president and explain to him and the American people how the Constitution protects even those accused of the most heinous crimes and deserve due process as well as explaining in no uncertain terms that the proper way to disagree with a Federal Judge is not through public cries for impeachment, but through the appeals process up to the final judgement rendered by the Supreme Court of the United States. 

  In his response to the Trump executive order relying on the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to claim the power to remove those he believes to be suspected criminals without investigation or proper court involvement, ie; Due Process, Chief Justice Roberts shared his explanation in a public comment.

  Roberts corrected the administration by saying, "...for more than two hundred years, it has been established that impeachment is NOT an appropriate response to disagreeing with a Federal Judge's decision."

 The Chief Justice closed with, " The normal appellate review process exists for that very reason.' making it clear the law as defined in the Constitution.

  In closing, the inevitable battle over the administration's attempts to circumvent the laws pertaining to due process is surely coming in the not so distant future. 

  Does the Chief Justice's public correction and explanation mean that the stream of SCOTUS decisions in favor of President Trump's efforts to aggregate power under the cover of the executive branch, is disrupted? What will the court decide? 

  Well, hopefully this little exploration into our nation's highest court, the constitution and the current justices that make up our current SCOTUS, will give us a better understanding of our Supreme Court,  the importance of its decisions, and its relationship to the other two branches of government.

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at another of the Supreme Court Justices, Sonia Sotomayer.

Thanks for reading or listening (I use a simple text-to voice app for android I got in the play store. Just copy/paste and listen:)) 

Whether you agree with the administration or not, it can't hurt to be informed and have some context when deciding who to trust and who to listen to so that we have an elevated understanding of today's current political and government agencies, courts, organizations and institutions. I think it helps me and I hope it helps you as well.

Until next time,

Much much Love!

Rocky

sources: supremecourt.gov

Wikipedia.org