The Supreme Court

  The Supreme Court is the most prestigious, influentia, and powerful judiciary body in the US. It is responsible for taking on some of the most controversial cases that appear to violate the Constitution. The prestige of the Supreme Court comes from the concept of Certiorari, which means that they have the ability to pick and choose which cases are in the most need of their jurisdiction. The Constitution specifies that the Supreme Court is to be the final arbiter over federal and state court cases that involve federal law. The Supreme Court gets presented with over 7,000 potential cases to review, but they only take on 100-150 every year, theref

ore adding to the overall sense of prestige and power they possess. It is important to note, that in the Marbury v. Madison case in 1803, the Supreme Court gave itself power that was not specified in the Constitution, specifically the concept of judicial review over federal law. 

In 1857, during the Dred Scott v. Sandford case, the court ruled that the Constitution did not include black people as American citizens. This contributed significantly to the Civil War that ensued only a few years later. The 13th Amendment was then included after the Civil War to abolish slavery and then the 14th Amendment granted citizenship to anyone born in the US, regardless of gender or skin color. Later in 1954, in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the court ruled that public schools can no longer segregate white and black students.