Supreme Court

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT was created on September 24, 1789, by Article III, Paragraph 1, of the U.S. Constitution. Article III, Paragraph 1, simply provides that “the judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” The Supreme Court is the highest tribunal in the nation for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States, serves as final arbiter of the law, and functions as guardian and interpreter of the U.S. Constitution.

The Supreme Court consists of one chief justice and a number of associate justices predetermined by Congress, and is currently fixed at eight. Justices are [Page 885]nominated by ...