Smart conversation from the National Constitution Center
The United States Supreme Court is the highest court of the judicial branch of government—its duty is to interpret the law. Since 1803, the Supreme Court has been understood to have the power to declare national, state, and local laws unconstitutional. Article III of the Constitution defines the Supreme Court and which cases it can hear, and how other federal courts are established.
On January 28, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson nominated attorney Louis Brandeis to the Supreme Court. Although Brandeis is a mostly revered figure today, his battle to get a seat at the Court was ugly and hard-fought
On January 24, 1993, retired Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall died at the age of 84. Marshall was one of the best-known litigators of his generation, and the Court’s first African-American member.
On November 28, 1975, President Gerald Ford made his only Supreme Court nomination when he selected federal judge John Paul Stevens to the nation’s highest court.
On October 27, 2019, the National Constitution Center awarded its 31st annual Liberty Medal to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, for his efforts to preserve, protect, and defend liberty by inspiring Americans of all ages to learn about the Constitution through civic education and civil dialogue.
When the Supreme Court reopens a new session in October, awaiting the Justices in the pile of work that built up over their summer recess will be a major constitutional case over how America elects its President
The nation’s best-known transgender student, Gavin Grimm, has won his discrimination case against his old high school – for the second time. The new victory came on Friday, four years after he first filed his lawsuit, three years after his first court victory, more than two years after the Supreme Court opted not to decide the case, and two years after his high school graduation.
On August 12, 1937, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated then-Senator Hugo Black of Alabama to the Supreme Court.
Saying there is not enough time to go on waging a court battle over adding a question about citizenship to the 2020 census, the Trump Administration decided on Thursday to turn to already existing government records to get the data, insisting that would give an even more accurate count.
With government lawyers under pressure from President Trump looking for a new way to justify asking everyone in America about their citizenship next year, federal judges in two cities moved rapidly on Friday to consider issuing new orders to stop that addition to 2020 census forms.
In a decision that seems sure to have a significant impact on American politics over the coming decade, the Trump Administration decided on Tuesday to carry out the 2020 census without asking everyone in the nation about their citizenship. The question, if asked, was likely to reduce the political power of larger states in future elections for the presidency and the House of Representatives.