What word means the highest court?

The phrase that means the highest court, on the USCIS reading vocabulary list, is Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of the United States, often abbreviated SCOTUS, is the highest federal court and the head of the judicial branch of the federal government. It was established by Article III, section 1 of the Constitution, which vests the judicial power of the United States in "one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."

The Court has nine members: one Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices. The Chief Justice is currently John Roberts, appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate in 2005. Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by majority vote of the Senate, and they serve during "good Behaviour," effectively for life or until they choose to retire, resign, or are removed by impeachment.

The Court hears about 60 to 70 cases per term out of roughly 7,000 to 8,000 petitions for certiorari filed each year, and its decisions interpret the Constitution and federal law and bind all lower courts. The Supreme Court established its power of judicial review (the authority to strike down laws and executive actions as unconstitutional) in Marbury v. Madison in 1803. The Court sits in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., a marble structure completed in 1935 across the street from the Capitol.

The Court's term begins on the first Monday in October and runs through late June or early July. On the reading test Supreme Court may appear in a sentence such as "What is the highest court?" or "Who is the Chief Justice now?"