What is the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States and the only court specifically created by the Constitution. Article III, Section 1 establishes the Supreme Court and authorizes Congress to create lower federal courts. The Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the United States and has the last word on questions of federal law and the Constitution. Its rulings are binding on every other court in the country.

The Supreme Court has nine members: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. The size of the Court has changed several times by act of Congress, ranging from six members in 1789 to ten during the Civil War, but it has been fixed at nine since 1869. Justices are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and they serve for life during good behavior. They can be removed only through impeachment, which has happened only once at the Supreme Court level (Justice Samuel Chase was impeached in 1804 but not removed).

The Court meets in the Supreme Court Building on First Street NE in Washington, D.C., across from the U.S. Capitol. The building, designed by Cass Gilbert and completed in 1935, features the famous phrase Equal Justice Under Law inscribed above its main entrance.

The Supreme Court has both original jurisdiction (cases that start at the Court) and appellate jurisdiction (cases appealed from lower courts). Original jurisdiction is limited to cases involving foreign ambassadors and disputes between states, which are rare. Most Supreme Court cases come on appeal from federal courts of appeals or from state supreme courts on federal questions.

The Court receives about 7,000 petitions per year and accepts roughly 60 to 80 cases for full review. Most cases are accepted through a writ of certiorari, which requires four of the nine justices to agree to hear a case. The Court's term runs from the first Monday in October through late June or early July. Justices issue major rulings throughout the term, often saving the most contentious decisions for the final weeks.

Recent landmark rulings include Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022), which overturned Roe v. Wade, and Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), which struck down race-based affirmative action in university admissions.