United States Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is created by the Constitution. Originally it contained five judges on its "panel," called officially "justices," but was changed to nine some time after the ratification of the Bill of Rights.

History and Background
The SCOTUS was created by Article Three of the US Constitution, with one Chief Justice serving as the head. The Chief Justice officiates over the impeachment trial of the President in the Senate. The first Chief Justice was John Marshall, of Marbury v. Madison fame. The SCOTUS is supposed to be officially neutral regarding all issues:

But inevitably, their opinions are corrupted by unofficial stances such as conservative, liberal, anti-abortion, pro-choice, etc. However we believe, the SCOTUS is shown to be 45% more neutral than the American public.

Famous cases
Apart from Marbury v. Madison, that set the precedent for judicial review, there have been many milestone cases that the SCOTUS has settled.

Dred Scott
An escaped slave sued his former master for his freedom on the grounds that the master had taken him into a free state. At the time, the Old Conservatives that controlled the Court decided that


 * A Negro had no rights in court
 * A Negro was property and could be taken anywhere in the US with master's permission
 * A Negro did not exist and was simply a shadow in a thought of White Male Anglo-Saxon Protestants

This was one of the causes of the Civil War of America, as the South allowed slavery and the North did not.

The death penalty case McCleskey v. Kemp (1987), was compared to the Dred Scott case for its immorality.

Roe v. Wade, 1973
Legalized abortion and overturned all state-level laws prohibiting it. Made by neutral judges, not liberals or conservatives. 'Nuff said.

Bush v. Gore, 2000
We shall not speak of it.

Obama v. Clinton, 2008
Not a Supreme Court case per se, but it is definitely like one. And Obama won.

Bush v. Iraq, 2009
He's exhausted every method of conflict he can think up (and a few he didn't think up) against "them terrorstanians -- er -- tuhrrists -- er -- what did they tell me to say here?" What has he got to lose? "Shock and Awe" didn't work. War didn't work. A surge didn't work. Torture didn't even work. Sending Dick Cheney over didn't work. A Supreme Court lawsuit won him the presidency directly over the will of the entire American people, so maybe it'll win him Iraq too.

Bush v. Everything Good In The World, 2001
Yes. He did. Luckily, even though Justice Scalia argued vehemently for him, Bush lost the suit against Everything Good In The World.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
The youngest member of the Court, appointed by George W. Bush in 2005. Nicknames include "Master of Opinion," "The Courtroom Mutilator," and "The Shaft." A prominent Republican.

Others
The rest:


 * 1) John Paul Stevens, Republican, took office 1975, and despite being appointed by John McCain's godchild, he's actually a reliable liberal
 * 2) Antonin Scalia, Republican, took office 1986, appointed by that old guy. An evil guy. The worst of the worst.
 * 3) Anthony M. Kennedy, Republican, took office 1988, appointed by Rotten Ronnie. Mainly conservative, but sometimes sees sense.
 * 4) David Hackett Souter, Republican, took office 1990, appointed by Aich-Dubya. Some say he's a liberal.
 * 5) Clarence Thomas, Republican, took office 1991, appointed by Herbert B. Even more conservative than Scalia. Which is scary.
 * 6) Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Democrat!, took office 1993, appointed by Billy Beroo Very cool. Very liberal.
 * 7) Stephen G. Breyer, Democrat!, took office 1994, appointed by Hillary's Husband Liberal, cool..
 * 8) Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., Republican, took office 2006, appointed by Dubya. Nasty conservative.

Note how Republicans and Conservatives control seven out of the nine commissions. Why can't a court remain neutral?

Membership
Members of the SCOTUS are appointed by the President and then confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate. Filibusters, and the lack thereof, then, are key to allowing an appointment. Thus, most modern justices are granted their commissions because of a compromise between Senate Republicans and Democrats.