View source for Supreme Court of the United States

{{short description|Highest court in the United States}}
{{Infobox high court
| court_name      = {{nowrap|Supreme Court of the United States}}
| image           = Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
| imagesize       = 180
| country         = United States of America
| location        = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| type            = Presidential nomination with Senate [[advice and consent|confirmation]]
| authority       = [[Constitution of the United States]]
| terms           = Life tenure
| positions       = 7 (by statute)
| website         = {{URL|medium.com/model-supreme-court-reporter}}
| chiefjudgetitle = [[Chief Justice of the United States]]
| chiefjudgename  = [[SHOCKULAR]]
| termstart       = {{Start date and age|2005|09|29}}
}}
{{SCOTUS series}}

The '''Supreme Court of the United States''' ('''SCOTUS''') is the [[Supreme court|highest court]] in the [[Federal judiciary of the United States|federal judiciary]] of the [[United States|United States of America]]. It has ultimate (and largely [[Procedures of the Supreme Court of the United States|discretionary]]) [[appellate jurisdiction]] over all [[Federal tribunals in the United States|federal]] and [[State court (United States)|state court]] cases that involve a point of [[Law of the United States|federal law]], and [[original jurisdiction]] over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party".<ref>U.S. Constitution, [[Article Three of the United States Constitution#Clause 2: Original and appellate jurisdiction|Article III, Section 2]]. This was narrowed by the [[Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eleventh Amendment]] to exclude suits against states that are brought by persons who are not citizens of that state.</ref> 

The Court holds the power of [[Judicial review in the United States|judicial review]], the ability to invalidate a [[statute]] for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down [[presidential directive]]s for violating either the Constitution or [[statutory law]].<ref name=aboutSC>{{cite web| title=About the Supreme Court|url=http://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/about| publisher=[[Administrative Office of the United States Courts]]| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref> However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The Court may decide cases having political [[wikt:overtone#Noun|overtones]], but it has ruled that it does not have power to decide [[Justiciability|non-justiciable]] political questions. Recently, however, this doctrine has come into doubt. 

Established by [[Article Three of the United States Constitution]], the composition and procedures of the Supreme Court were initially established by the [[1st United States Congress|1st Congress]] through the [[Judiciary Act of 1789]]. As later set by the [[Judiciary Act of 1869]], the Court consists of the [[Chief Justice of the United States]] and eight [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|associate justices]]. Each justice has [[life tenure|lifetime tenure]], meaning they remain on the Court until they resign, retire, die, or are [[Impeachment in the United States|removed from office]].<ref>{{Cite web| last=Turley| first=Jonathan|title=Essays on Article III: Good Behavior Clause|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/3/essays/104/good-behavior-clause| work=Heritage Guide to the Constitution| publisher=[[The Heritage Foundation]]| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=September 3, 2018}}</ref> When a vacancy occurs, the president, with the [[Nomination and confirmation to the Supreme Court of the United States|advice and consent]] of the [[United States Senate|Senate]], appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it. When in majority, the chief justice decides who writes the [[opinion of the court]]; otherwise, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion.

The Court meets in the [[United States Supreme Court Building|Supreme Court Building]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Its law enforcement arm is the [[Supreme Court Police]].