Supreme Court
The supreme court is the oldest and most powerful judicial system in the United States. These are the nine current members of the supreme court John G. Roberts (Chief Justice of the United States), Clarence Thomas (Associate Justice), Samuel A. Alito, Jr (Associate Justice), Sonia Sotomayor (Associate Justice), Elena Kagan (Associate Justice), Neil M. Gorsuch (Associate Justice), Brett M. Kavanaugh (Associate Justice), Amy Coney Barret (Associate Justice), and Ketanji Brown Jackson (Associate Justice). These are some of the retired members of the supreme court Sandra Day O'Connor (Retired Associate Justice), Anthony M. Kennedy (Retired Associate Justice), David H. Souter (Retired Associate Justice), Stephen G. Breyer (Retired Associate Justice).
Current Members (supremecourt.gov)
The levels of the court system are district, state, and then federal. Even if someone's case reaches the supreme court (federal) level the court does not have to take the case. An example of someone's case making it to the supreme court level and the court reviewing the case in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Dred Scott was a slave who to a free state with the consent of his slave master at the time Emerson. Emerson eventually died and when he died Scott tried to purchase his freedom along with his family's, but the state would not allow him to. According to Dred Scott v. Sandford - Case Summary and Case Brief (legaldictionary.net), "When Emerson died, Scott tried to purchase both the freedom of himself and his family, but the estate refused." After reaching a verdict on a case the supreme court judges have to complete opinion writing which can take weeks or months to complete.
This case led to the 14th amendment which states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." This allowed for citizens who were once categorized as property to be liberal which means to feel free. This case is also an example of judicial activism when the court is willing to make fast sweeping change in the law. This case was the opposite of judicial restraint when the court makes slow or no change within the law.
Sources of law are a legal term that refers to the authorities by which law is made. Sources of law include common, constitutional, statutory, and administrative law. The common and constitutional law falls under the judicial branch. Statutory law falls under the legislative branch and administrative law falls under the executive branch. They type of law that falls under state laws are common and constitutional law. The type of law falls under federal laws are constitutional law.
Based on the information given above you can see that it takes a lot complete the supreme court. So many cases have been brought to the supreme court to review some have been accepted some have been denied. Dred Scott v. Sandford being an example of a case that was accepted and had a great impact on our constitution producing the 14th amendment. The different sources of law (common, constitutional, statutory, and administrative) also shaped our supreme court.
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