Replacing U.S. Supreme Court Justices and Resources for the Court - What You Need To Know

The U.S. Supreme Court is the embodiment of democracy and the government of the United States as it works to ensure that legislation abides by the U.S. Constitution through the process of judicial review.

Remembering Justice Ruth Badger Ginsburg

Associate Justice Ruth Badger Ginsburg passed away on September 18, 2020. She was a force to be reckoned with as she led the charge against gender discrimination within the Court. Ginsburg was born on March 5, 1933 to a merchant father and garment factory working mother. Her family instilled a commitment to education within Ginsburg and she continued to excel in academia. She graduated from Cornell University in 1954 and attended Harvard Law School in 1956. Ginsburg experienced gender discrimination throughout her academic years as she was only one of nine females in her 500 person class at Harvard. She later transferred to Columbia Law where she finished her degree. On August 10, 1993, Ginsburg was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Clinton. Her Official Biography can be read on the Supreme Court website.  You can also watch RBG, a documentary on Ginsburg, which was released in theatres May 4, 2018.  It highlights her early career and how she rose to be such an influence in the legislative branch of the United States. Ginsburg leaves behind a great legacy of advocating for change against all discriminated persons.

How will Ginsburg be replaced?

The Supreme Court states that the "President nominates someone for a vacancy in the Court and the Senate votes to confirm the nominee, which requires a simple majority. Both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government have a voice in the composition of the Supreme Court." This is explicitly stated in the Constitution in Article II Section 2; a transcript of the Constitution is provided by the National Archives:

"...He shall nominate (the President), by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States..."

The Supreme Court also mentions that the "Constitution does not specify qualifications for Justices such as age, education, profession, or native-born citizenship." The screening process to nominate and swear in a new justice is a careful and tedious endeavor. Since justices serve a life term under good behavior, it is paramount that Congress checks the President's nomination. The concept of "good behavior" can be found in Article III Section 1 of the Constitution. The National Archives provides this information:

"The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office." 

To fulfill Ginsburg's vacancy, President Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett as the next Associative Justice of the Supreme Court. According to the White House, Barrett served as a clerk under the late Justice Antonin Scalia before he passed away. She was confirmed as a Federal Judge in 2017 and believes that "a judge must apply the law as written." It will take some time before she is reviewed by Congress to determine if she will fulfill the empty Justice seat.

About the U.S. Supreme Court

According to the Supreme Court Official website, "the Court is the highest tribunal in the Nation for all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution or the laws of the United States." The motto of the Supreme Court is "Equal Justice Under Law." The court seeks to protect the American people by relying on the Constitution and interpreting it under changing conditions. The Constitution is the framework and foundation of the American government, and the Founding Fathers created it so that it could be interpreted according to the time period. The Supreme Court was established with the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and this 225 year old legacy has remained a vital part of the judicial system. The Supreme Court states that "the Constitution provides for a national government sufficiently strong and flexible to meet the needs of the republic, yet sufficiently limited and just to protect the guaranteed rights of citizens; it permits a balance between society's needs for order and the individual's rights to freedom." The concept of judicial review was established in the Marbury v. Madison (1803) case and chartered a precedent for the Supreme Court to overturn legislation that does not adhere to the Constitution. The Court only selects a limited number of cases to hear each year, and the verdict on the case is almost always final under the Supreme Court. 

The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest governing body in the Judicial branch and its justices are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. These justices serve a life term under good behavior. This is an example of how the three branches work together to check and limit the power of a singular branch. Furthermore, the White House declares that the "Court's task is to interpret the meaning of a law, to decide whether a law is relevant to a particular set of facts, or to rule on how a law should be applied."

The U.S. Supreme Court website includes "Court Opinions," "Filings & Rulings," "Oral Arguments," "Case Documents," and "About the Court." 

1.  According to the Supreme Court, "opinions" refers to "several types of writing by the Justices; the most well known are the opinions announced in cases in which the Court has heard oral arguments." The opinions describe the "Court's judgment and its reasoning." The bound volumes are available at the OSU Library on the 5th floor in the Legal Reference section and have the designation United States Reports. They are the official record of the opinions.
2. The Filings & Rulings tab lists information about "Electronic Filing, Rules & Guidance, and Supreme Court Bar.
3. The Supreme Court only hears about 70-80 cases per year. "The oral arguments are an opportunity for the Justices to ask questions directly of the attorneys representing the parties to the case, and for the attorneys to highlight arguments that they view as particularly important."
4. "The most common way to find information about a case is to review the case’s docket -- a list of all of the filings and rulings in that case, arranged in chronological order." This tab presents resources over "Docket Search," "Orders of the Court," " Orders by Circuit," "Granted/Noted Cases List," and "Journal."
5. The About the Court tab has information over the following: "Justices, Supreme Court at Work, History & Traditions, the Supreme Court Building, Visiting the Court, Building Regulations, and Frequently Asked Questions."
   

Additional resources regarding the Supreme Court and Constitution

The Supreme Court Historical Society is another excellent resource to learn more about the United States' legal system. It is a "private non-profit organization that is dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the Supreme Court of the U.S." The Society was established in 1974 to increase the public's awareness of the contributions of the Supreme Court. The Society "accomplishes its mission by conducting educational programs, programs of interest to legal practitioners, scholar and historians and the general public, supporting historical research, publishing books, journals, and electronic materials, and by collecting antiques or artifacts related to the Court's history."

The Edmon Low Library website has a subscription to the database HeinOnline. To access it, visit https://library.okstate.edu/. Click on the tab "Databases" within the orange box and under the search box. Then click on the "H" on the top of the page to find "HeinOnline." Scroll down to the box titled "Browse Databases by Name" and click on "U.S. Supreme Court Library." This resource contains information over official reports, books on the court, rules of the Supreme Court, etc. The Edmon Low Library also has physical copies of the United States Reports on the fifth floor that cover the decisions made in the Supreme Court. 

FedWorld.gov is a program of the United States Department of Commerce that allows the public to access cases of the Supreme Court. The database "contains the full text of 7,407 U.S. Supreme Court decisions from 1937-1975." Individuals have the option of searching the database by the case name and keywords, however, it is more beneficial to search by the case name because of the large size of the database. It may take a few searches to find the desired case if you use keywords.

Uscourts.gov provides the public with information concerning the following topics: Federal Courts and the Public; Court Role and Structure; Types of Cases; Educational Resources; Governance and the Judicial Conference; Judicial Administration; and Workplace Conduct in the Federal Judiciary. The website also includes resources about Judges and Judgeships; Services and Forms; Court Records; Statistics & Reports; and Rules & Policies.

~Emily Hancz