By Matthew Vadum Republicans in the U.S. Senate proposed a new constitutional amendment on Feb. 7 that would prevent federal lawmakers from increasing the number of justices—currently set at nine—on the U.S. Supreme Court. The new joint congressional resolution, the Keep Nine Amendment, was introduced after Democrats in the previous Congress proposed a series of […]
Tag: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of 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”. The Court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the U.S. Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. 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 it has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions.