Supreme Court of the United States

The Roberts Court, 2018
Back row (left to right): Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Brett Kavanaugh. Front row (left to right): Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Samuel Alito

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States of America. Because of this, the Court leads the Judicial Branch of the United States Federal Government. It is the only U.S. court established by the United States Constitution. Its decisions are supposed to be followed by all other courts in the United States. The Court meets in its own building in Washington, D.C. However, until 1935, the Supreme Court met in the United States Capitol.

There are 9 justices on the court now: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. Courts are unofficially named for the Chief Justice; the current Court is called the "Roberts Court" after Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Supreme Court chooses which cases it will decide on. Many people ask the Supreme Court to decide their cases, but the court refuses most of them. For the Supreme Court to decide a case, the case must be about federal law or be about the laws of more than one state. Cases must first be decided by a federal District Court and a federal Court of Appeals or by a state supreme court. Even after that, the Supreme Court can choose not to decide a case for any reason. There are some cases that can start in the Supreme Court and that the Supreme Court must decide, but those are usually rare.

The justices serve for life unless they want to retire earlier or are impeached. If a justice retires, he or she can still be asked to serve as a judge on a federal Court of Appeals. New justices are nominated (picked) by the President of the United States, and then must be approved by the Senate. Usually, the President tries to pick someone who broadly shares their legal or political beliefs. Sometimes, the judges have surprised people when they turn out to be more liberal or conservative than expected.

The Current Court

The current court is named "The Roberts Court" named after Chief Justice John Roberts.

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  Chief Justice
  John Roberts
  (since 2005)

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  Associate Justice
  Clarence Thomas
  (since 1991)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  (since 1993)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Stephen Breyer
  (since 1994)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Samuel Alito
  (since 2006)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Sonia Sotomayor
  (since 2009)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Elena Kagan
  (since 2010)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Neil Gorsuch
  (since 2017)

• 

  Associate Justice
  Brett Kavanaugh
  (since 2018)