Title: Judicial Branch - Student Center | Britannica.com
Headings: Judicial Branch
Judicial Branch
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Judicial independence
Judiciary Act of 1789
Supreme Court ​
Certiorari
Lower Courts​
U.S. Courts of Appeals
U.S. Court of Federal Claims
U.S. District Courts
Supreme Court Justices​
According to the Constitution, appointments to the Supreme Court are made by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate, though presidents have rarely consulted the Senate before making a nomination. The Senate Judiciary Committee ordinarily conducts hearings on nominations to the Supreme Court, and a simple majority of the full Senate is required for confirmation. Members of the Supreme Court are appointed for life terms, though they may be expelled if they are impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted in the Senate.​
Chief justice
John Marshall
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Louis Brandeis
Charles Evans Hughes
Sandra Day O’Connor
Earl Warren
Why Are There Nine Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?
Select Cases of the Supreme Court​
Because the Constitution is vague and ambiguous in many places, it is often possible for critics to fault the Supreme Court for misinterpreting it. Among the most important doctrinal sources used by the Supreme Court have been the commerce, due-process, and equal-protection clauses of the Constitution. It also has often ruled on controversies involving civil liberties, including freedom of speech and the right of privacy. Much of its work consists of clarifying, refining, and testing the Constitution’s philosophic ideals and translating them into working principles. On divisive issues such as abortion, affirmative action, school prayer, and flag burning, the Court’s decisions have aroused considerable opposition and controversy, with opponents sometimes seeking constitutional amendments to overturn the Court’s decisions.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Roe v. Wade
Dred Scott Decision
Marbury v. Madison
Brown v. Board of Education
Plessy v. Ferguson​

Content: Judicial Branch - Student Center | Britannica.com
United States Government​
Judicial Branch
The Constitution says little about the powers, structure, and functions of the judicial branch. Instead it left much of that responsibility to Congress, stipulating (in Article III) only that judicial power be “vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” As a result, the judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court of the United States, which consists of nine justices (including a chief justice) appointed to life terms by the president with the consent of the Senate. The Supreme Court interprets the Constitution and federal legislation. Beneath the Supreme Court are 13 courts of appeals and 94 district-level trial courts. Though not expressly covered in the text of the Constitution, judicial review—the power of the courts to examine the actions of the legislative, executive, and administrative arms of government to ensure that they are constitutional—became an important part of government in the United States and one of the key checks and balances of the American system. Learn the whole story
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Origins
Constitution
Bill of Rights
Supreme Court
Executive
Judicial
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Origins
Constitution
Bill of Rights
Supreme Court
Executive
Judicial
Legislative
Judicial independence
The ability of courts and judges to perform their duties free of influence or control by other actors, whether governmental or private, is known as judicial independence. As a practical matter, the type of judicial independence that is widely considered both the most important and the most difficult to achieve is independence from other governmental actors. Judiciary Act of 1789
The Judiciary Act of 1789 established the federal court system as a three-part judiciary made up of district courts, circuit courts, and the Supreme Court. It divided the country into districts with one court and one judge in each, along with attorneys responsible for civil and criminal actions in their districts.