The Supreme Court

Who Sits on the Court

The Constitution doesn’t fix the number of justices — Congress does, and it has been nine since 1869. The current Court, in order of seniority:

How a Case Reaches the Court

Almost every case arrives as an appeal from a lower court — usually a federal court of appeals or a state’s highest court — and almost none arrive automatically. The losing party files a petition for a writ of certiorari, asking the justices to take the case.

Certiorari and the Rule of Four

Granting review takes four votes, not five — an internal practice, not a constitutional rule, that lets a determined minority bring a case before the full Court. Grants go overwhelmingly to cases with a circuit split (federal courts disagreeing about the same law), a lower court striking down a federal law, or a question of broad national importance. The Court is not a general court for correcting mistakes; a petition arguing only that the lower court got it wrong rarely succeeds.

Oral Arguments

After review is granted, both sides file written briefs — often joined by amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs from outside groups — and the case is scheduled for oral argument in the Court’s courtroom. Each side usually has about 30 minutes, and most of it is spent answering the justices’ questions rather than giving a speech.

Argument is not a debate or a retrial. No witnesses appear and no new evidence is taken. The justices use the time to test the limits of each side’s position, often through hypotheticals, and to signal their concerns to each other. Transcripts and audio are posted on the Court’s website. A sharp question from the bench is not a ruling — predicting outcomes from argument is notoriously unreliable.

Opinions and Dissents

After argument, the justices vote in private conference, and one justice in the majority is assigned to write the Court’s opinion. Drafts circulate for weeks or months, votes occasionally shift, and decisions are announced through the end of the term, usually by late June or early July. A single decision can contain several documents:

Two less familiar forms matter too. A plurality opinion is the lead opinion when no single rationale wins five votes, which can leave the controlling rule genuinely unclear. A per curiam opinion is issued unsigned, “by the Court.” For practical tips on reading any of these, see How to Read a Court Decision.

The Emergency Docket

Not everything the Court does comes after full briefing and argument. Parties can file emergency applications asking the Court to pause (stay) a lower-court order or to block a policy while litigation continues. These are often decided within days, sometimes with a short unsigned order and no explanation. Critics call it the “shadow docket”; supporters note that some disputes can’t wait months. Either way, a growing share of major national questions — including limits on nationwide injunctions addressed in Trump v. CASA — now pass through this track.

The Chief Justice

The Chief Justice has one vote, like every other justice, but holds real institutional power. The Chief presides over oral argument and the private conference, and assigns who writes the majority opinion whenever the Chief is in the majority — a quiet but significant way to shape how broadly a ruling is written. The Chief also leads the Judicial Conference, the federal judiciary’s policymaking body, issues the annual Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, and, under Article I, presides over the Senate trial when a President is impeached.

How a Justice Gets There

Justices go through the same constitutional process as every federal judge: nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate, now by simple majority. What’s different is the scale of attention. Because justices serve for life and the Court decides the country’s most consequential legal questions, a single vacancy can reshape American law for a generation. The full nomination-to-confirmation process, including hearings, tenure, and removal, is on Federal Judges.

When the Supreme Court Is the First Court

In a small set of cases the Constitution gives the Court original jurisdiction, meaning a case starts there. In practice this is mostly lawsuits between states — over boundaries, rivers, and water rights. The Court usually appoints a “special master” to gather evidence and recommend a result. New Jersey v. New York, the dispute over who owns Ellis Island, is a well-known example.