History of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court was established in 1789 by Article three of the U.S. Constitution, which had also granted the congress power to create inferior federal courts. The Constitution permitted congress to decide how the Supreme Court would be organized. The highest officer in the nation, "chief justice" is responsible for presiding over the Supreme Court and setting the agenda for the justice’s weekly meetings. Also, the chief justice presides over trials of impeachment against the President. The legislative branch had first exercised this power with the Judiciary Act of 1789. The act of course was signed into law by President George Washington, which implicated that the court would be made up of six justices who had to serve until they retired or died.  Even though it was set to six, it has been changed to nine seats where it still remains that number to this day. The justices are nominated by the President and confirmed or denied by the U.S. Senate. The first assembling was on February 1, 1790 at the Merchants Exchange building in New York City. It didn't hear any cases in its first term, they wanted to focus on working out organizational procedures. The six justices handed down their first decision on August 3, 1791, West v. Barnes.  Chief justice John Marshall, for instance, is widely regarded as one of the influential chief justices, in part for having defined the relationship between the judiciary and the rest of government. Chief justice John Marshall established the Supreme Court’s power to review and rule on the constitutionality of federal laws enacted by Congress.

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