The Supreme Court of the United States is established under Article 3 of the Constitution.
There are 9 Justices of the Supreme Court. They are nominated for their positions by the President and must be confirmed by the Senate. Once confirmed they hold office for life.
A law passed by Congress, even if approved by the President, may be struck down by the Supreme Court. In 1996, for example, the court struck down electoral boundary laws in a number of states.
The Supreme Court may invalidate Executive Orders given by the President. In this way, the court acts as a check on presidential power where the congress is not directly involved.
The Court may also direct the Congress and the President. This happened in 1973-74 during the Watergate scandal when the Court ordered President Nixon to surrender secret tapes of White House conversations to a Senate committee.
- Justices of the Supreme Court – 2000
- U.S. Federal Judiciary
- Federal Judicial Center
- First Amendment Pages
Supreme Court Decisions
FindLaw’s searchable database of the Supreme Court decisions since 1893 (U.S. Supreme Court Decisions: US Reports 150-, 1893-). Browsable by year and US Reports volume number and searchable by citation, case title and full text.
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- Justices Of The US Supreme Court – 2000 March 16, 2000
- Chief Justice Rehnquist Convenes Senate Trial of President Clinton January 14, 1999
