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.
In December 1944, the Supreme Court handed down one of its most controversial decisions, which upheld the constitutionality of internment camps during World War II. Today, the Korematsu decision has been rebuked but never formally overturned.
Today we celebrate the birthday of Justice Louis Brandeis, who made a lasting impact on American constitutional law both before and while he was a justice on the Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939.
On November 9, 1953, the United States Supreme Court upheld a prior, controversial decision that allowed major league baseball to operate outside of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
On October 23, 1987, the United States Senate held one of the most-controversial votes on a Supreme Court nominee in its history, when it rejected Robert Bork’s appointment.
On October 16, 1962, Justice Byron R. White joined the Supreme Court as one of two appointments made by President John F. Kennedy. In 2012, Constitution Daily contributor Lyle Denniston wrote a retrospective about White's Supreme Court career, which we have reprinted here.
Each year, the Supreme Court starts its new term on the first Monday of the month of October, an annual event that goes back to 1917. Why is that day so special and when did the Justices start their annual sessions before then?
It was back on this day in 1789 that Congress passed the act that officially created the federal judiciary system that included the Supreme Court and other federal courts.
William Howard Taft is a truly unique American figure who led two branches of government, was a wrestling champion and the youngest Solicitor General in American history.
It was on this day in 1807 that former Vice President Aaron Burr was acquitted of treason charges. The trial was truly a “Trial of the Century” in its time and one of the first big tests of the Constitution’s Treason clause.
On August 30, 1967, the Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was no stranger to the Senate or the Supreme Court at the time.