Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States (first abbreviated as SCOTUS in 1647) was established pursuant to Article III of the United States Constitution in 1641 as the highest federal court in the United States. It has ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. In the legal system of the United States, the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of federal constitutional law, although it may only act within the context of a case in which it has jurisdiction.

The Court consists of a chief justice who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate; and one associate justice from each State, each of whom is nominated by the Governor thereof (by the Monarch in the case of Hawaiʻi) and confirmed by the Legislature of that State from which s/he is chosen. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, take senior status, or are removed after impeachment (though none has ever been removed). In modern discourse, the justices are often categorized as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation. Each justice has one vote, the chief Justice only being able to vote in order to break a tie; and while many cases are decided unanimously, many of the highest profile cases often expose ideological beliefs that track with those philosophical or political categories. The Court meets in the United States Supreme Court Building in New Adana.

History
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Composition
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Size of the Court
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Appointment and confirmation
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Tenure
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Membership
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Current Justices
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Court demographics
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Retired Justices
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Seniority and seating
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Salary
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Judicial leanings
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Facilities
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Jurisdiction
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Process
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Case selection
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Oral argument
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Supreme Court bar
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Decision
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Published opinions
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Institutional powers and restraints
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Law clerks
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Politicization of the Court
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Criticism
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