The Supreme Court

In a court room the great questions are answered. The Supreme Court is the most important judicial body. The Supreme Court is the final judge in all cases involving laws of Congress, and the highest law of all, the Constitution. Its power is limited by the other two branches of government. The President nominates justices to the court.

The Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to check the actions of the President and Congress. It can tell a President that his actions are not allowed by the Constitution. It can tell Congress that a law it passed violated the U.S. Constitution and is no longer a law. The whole Congress also has great power over the lower courts in the federal system. It is up to the Supreme Court to say when the government breaks the rules. 

The decisions of the Supreme Court are made inside the courthouse in Washington D.C. If the Court decides not to hear a case the ruling of the lower court stands. The cases they agree to hear are given a court date. Before Marshall became Chief Justice, the Supreme Court had not yet challenged an act of Congress. The Constitution did not give the Court power to judge laws passed by Congress. Therefore, the Court wasn't even sure it had this power. In a famous court case in 1803, Marbury v. Madison, he wrote the Court's opinion, which declared a law passed by Congress to be unconstitutional. This decision gave the Supreme Court its power of judicial review. 

The Constitution does not allow Congress or state legislatures to pass laws that take away freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is protected in the United States and no lawmaking body can take away that right. 

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