Procedures of the Supreme Court of the United States

This article is part of a series on the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Court
History Procedures Nomination and confirmation Judiciary Committee review Demographics Ideological leanings of justices Lists of decisions Supreme Court building
Current membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate justices Clarence Thomas Samuel Alito Sonia Sotomayor Elena Kagan Neil Gorsuch Brett Kavanaugh Amy Coney Barrett Ketanji Brown Jackson Retired justices Anthony Kennedy David Souter Stephen Breyer
Lists of justices
List of all justices by court by time in office by seat by education List of chief justices List of associate justices Specialty lists All nominations Unsuccessful nominations Confirmation votes Justices who served in Congress Burial places of justices
Court functionaries
Clerks Reporter of Decisions Marshal of the Court Supreme Court Police
Other countries Law Portal
v t e

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. The procedures of the Court are governed by the U.S. Constitution, various federal statutes, and its own internal rules. Since 1869, the Court has consisted of one chief justice and eight associate justices. Justices are nominated by the president, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the U.S. Senate, appointed to the Court by the president. Once appointed, justices have lifetime tenure unless they resign, retire, or are removed from office.

Established pursuant to Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution in 1789, it has original jurisdiction over a small range of cases, such as suits between two or more states, and those involving ambassadors. It also has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal court and state court cases that involve a point of constitutional or statutory law. Most of the cases the Supreme Court hears are appeals from lower courts. Moreover, the Court has the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution or an executive act for being unlawful.^[1] 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 overtones, but does not have power to decide nonjusticiable political questions.