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##  Teaching about the United States Supreme Court. ERIC Digest.                 

The Supreme Court is one of the most important institutions in the              United States.  Thus, social studies teachers should emphasize the              significance of the Court in our nation's history.  This ERIC Digest            highlights the origin and foundations of the Supreme Court,                     discusses the changing role of the Supreme Court in the United                  States, and recommends World Wide Web resources helpful in teaching             and learning about the Supreme Court. CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY            FOUNDATIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT.The majority of the men who met            in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 agreed on the need to                 create a more powerful central government. Concurrently, however,               many of the delegates feared the abusive power a new national                   government could wield.  During the ratification struggle, James                Madison, in "Federalist 51," emphasized the necessity of providing              for "auxiliary precautions" to limit governmental power.  The                   judicial branch was designed in part to exercise such precautions on            the legislative and executive branches.  At the same time, the                  framers placed checks on the judiciary in order to ensure that no               single branch would dominate the others. 
The judiciary was the                least discussed branch of government at the Constitutional                      Convention, and Alexander Hamilton in "Federalist 78" later referred            to the Supreme Court as the "least dangerous" branch of the proposed            national government because it possessed neither the power of "the              purse" (legislative power) nor that of "the sword" (executive                   power). The debates surrounding the Court's creation reveal a broad             consensus that the federal judiciary shall have jurisdiction in all             cases pertaining to the Constitution, federal statutes, and                     treaties.  The delegates provided for the Supreme Court to have                 original jurisdiction only in cases involving "Ambassadors, other               public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be               Party." In all other cases under its authority, the Court was                   granted "appellate jurisdiction" (Article III, Section 2, Clause 2              of the Constitution).  In addition, the convention delegates agreed             that Congress would be empowered to establish inferior courts (Casto            1995, 14). 
The Philadelphia delegates granted the President power             to make judicial appointments and required the Senate's approval for            such appointments.  Supreme Court justices were to be appointed for             lifetime tenure "during good behavior" to create an independent                 judiciary that would act to preserve a limited government and the               rule of law. 
After ratification of the Constitution and subsequent            implementation of the new government, Congress passed the Judiciary             Act of 1789 to establish and organize the federal judiciary.  This              federal statute established two lower levels of federal courts: 13              federal district courts at the lowest level and three circuit courts            at the next level to hear appeals from the district courts.  The                Supreme Court was affirmed as the highest court of appeals in the               federal system.  The Judiciary Act of 1789 also provided in its                 Section 25 that the federal judiciary would have the power of                   judicial review over actions of state governments.  Thus, acts of               state governments could be nullified if they violated the United                States Constitution or federal laws and treaties that conformed to              it. THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE SUPREME COURT IN THE UNITED                      STATES.The U. S. Supreme Court met for its first session in                 February 1790. During the first decade of the Court's existence, the            justices had a light caseload (Casto 1995, 54-55).  Under John                  Marshall, who became Chief Justice in 1801, the Court enhanced its              authority and increased the power of the federal government at the              expense of the states.  The most famous case during Marshall's                  tenure as Chief Justice, "Marbury v. Madison" (1803), provided an               opportunity for the Court to exercise judicial review about actions             or laws of the federal government. Judicial review, or the power of             the federal courts to determine whether acts of state governments or            the national government are constitutional, was first directed at               the state level in "Ware v. Hylton" (1796); the Supreme Court                   declared a Virginia statute void because it violated the 1783 treaty            with Great Britain.  In 1803, the Marshall Court for the first time             declared a federal law unconstitutional. 
The scenario for "Marbury            v. Madison" (1803) began during the final days of President John                Adams's administration, when he made several "midnight appointments"            to the federal judiciary to ensure that the Federalist party agenda             would not be totally overturned by the newly elected President,                 Thomas Jefferson, and his Democratic-Republican party, which held a             majority of seats in the Congress.  Adams appointed William Marbury,            among others, to serve as a justice of the peace in Washington, DC.             Some of Adams's last-minute judicial appointments, including that of            Marbury, were never delivered.  When Thomas Jefferson assumed the               presidency in March 1801, he ordered his Secretary of State, James              Madison, to ignore the commissions. Marbury subsequently took his               case directly to the Supreme Court and asked it to issue a writ of              mandamus to Madison.  The writ of mandamus would order the Secretary            of State to carry out his duties by delivering Marbury's commission             to him.  Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 gave the Court                 power to issue a writ of mandamus in cases under its original                   jurisdiction. 
Chief Justice John Marshall considered three                    questions in this case. Did Marbury have a right to the commission?             Did the law provide him a means to obtain the commission?  Could the            Supreme Court, through its original jurisdiction in Marbury's case,             issue a writ of mandamus? 
The Court ruled that Marbury was due his            commission.  The Chief Justice stated that a writ of mandamus, which            the Supreme Court was authorized to issue by Section 13 of the                  Judiciary Act of 1789, was the proper legal procedure to follow in              this case.  Marshall pointed out, however, that according to Article            III, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution, the Court could not               have original jurisdiction in the "Marbury" case.  So the Chief                 Justice concluded that Section 13 of the Judiciary Act violated the             Constitution and therefore was unconstitutional. 
Marbury did not              receive his commission because the federal statute by which he                  brought his case to the Supreme Court was nullified.  Thus, a                   precedent was established whereby the Court would have the power of             judicial review over acts of the legislative and executive branches             of the federal government. 
After the "Marbury v. Madison"                     decision, the Supreme Court did not declare another act of Congress             void until 1857, when in "Scott v. Sandford" it decided the Missouri            Compromise of 1820 to be unconstitutional.  During the twentieth                century, however, the Court extensively and emphatically used its               power of judicial review through interpretation of the                          Constitution's 14th Amendment in concert with particular parts of               the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) to protect rights of                       individuals against tyranny by the federal and state                            governments. 
In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville observed in his                   classic commentary "Democracy in America" that the Supreme Court's              power to declare particular actions of legislative or executive                 officials unconstitutional was a powerful "barrier against the                  tyranny of political assemblies."  And so it has been from his time             to our own era.  However, the Court's power to secure justice would             be meaningless without public understanding and support of its                  constitutional responsibilities and purposes.  The Court's "power is            enormous," said Tocqueville, "but it is the power of public                     opinion.  [The justices] would be impotent against popular neglect              or contempt of the law." 
To maintain the important balance of                 power among the three branches of government and enable the Supreme             Court to play its proper role in a constitutional government,                   responsible citizens must be vigilant about the enforcement of laws             that protect their rights.  Citizens must be cognizant of what their            rights are, how the Court has acted to protect them, and why they               must be engaged politically and civically to support the                        Constitution and its just enforcement. WORLD WIDE WEB RESOURCES               FOR TEACHING ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT.The following Web sites are            recommended to teachers and students. Those sites are sources of                information about landmark decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court,                 which should be emphasized in the school curriculum. 
Cornell Legal            Information Institute: 
Cornell's site contains all of the U. S.               Supreme Court opinions since May 1990 and 600 opinions on major                 cases throughout the Court's history.                                           http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct> 
Federal Judicial                          Center: 
This site provides general information about the federal              judiciary including the history of federal courts and a biographical            database of federal judges since 1789. http://www.fjc.gov 
History             of the Federal Judiciary: 
This site presents information about the            history of the federal courts, the judges who have served since                 1789, and landmark judicial legislation from the Judiciary Act of               1789 to the present.                                                            http://air.fjc.gov/history/index_frm.html 
Oyez, Oyez, Oyez: 
This            Supreme Court database from Northwestern University provides access             to U. S. Supreme Court cases with texts of opinions and recordings              of oral arguments in recent cases.  It also contains biographical               data on all Supreme Court justices and links to their opinions.                 http://oyez.nwu.edu 
Supreme Court of the United States: 
This                official site of the Court includes information about the history,              structure, functions, and rules of the federal judiciary, opinions              on all cases that have gone before the Court, oral arguments, the               Court's docket, and a guide to visiting the U.S. Supreme Court                  building.  http://www.supremecourtus.gov/index.html REFERENCES AND            ERIC RESOURCES.The following list of resources includes                     references used to prepare this Digest. The items followed by an ED             number are available in microfiche and/or paper copies from the ERIC            Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). For information about prices,             contact EDRS, 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia             22153-2852; telephone numbers are (703) 440-1400 and (800) 443-3742.            Entries followed by an EJ number, annotated monthly in CURRENT INDEX            TO JOURNAL IN EDUCATION (CIJE), are not available through EDRS.                 However, they can be located in the journal section of most larger              libraries by using the bibliographic information provided, requested            through Interlibrary Loan, or ordered from commercial reprint                   services. 
Casto, William R. THE SUPREME COURT IN THE EARLY                    REPUBLIC: THE CHIEF JUSTICESHIPS OF JOHN JAY AND OLIVER ELLSWORTH.              Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1995. 
Hess,                 Diana. "'California v. Greenwood' Moot Court Simulation." UPDATE ON             LAW-RELATED EDUCATION 13 (Fall 1989): 21-23. EJ 401 473. 
Long,                Gerald P. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF JUVENILES AND STUDENTS: LESSONS              ON SIXTEEN SUPREME COURT CASES. Bloomington, IN: ERIC Clearinghouse             for Social Studies/Social Science Education, 1994.  ED 374                      070. 
Marcus, Maeva, ed. ORIGINS OF THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY: ESSAYS              ON THE JUDICIARY ACT OF 1789. New York: Oxford University Press,                1992. 
Pacelle, Richard L., Jr. "Simulating Supreme Court Decision             Making." POLITICAL SCIENCE TEACHER 2 (Spring 1989): 8-10. EJ 392                908. 
Patrick, John J. THE YOUNG OXFORD COMPANION TO THE SUPREME               COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. New York: Oxford University Press,                  1994.  ED 368 670. 
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Sarah E. Drake is a doctoral student in            the School of Education and a project assistant at the Social                   Studies Development Center of Indiana University.  Thomas S. Vontz              is an assistant professor of education at Rockhurst University in               Kansas City, MO. 
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This project has been funded at least in             part with Federal funds from the U. S. Department of Education under            contract number ED-99-CO-0016.  The content of this publication does            not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U. S.                      Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial             products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U. S.                       Government.  ERIC Digests are in the public domain and may be freely            reproduced and disseminated.                                                 **Title:** Teaching about the United States Supreme Court. ERIC Digest.                 **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social Science Education, 2805            East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698. Tel:                  800-266-3815 (Toll Free); Fax: 812-855-0455; e-mail:                            [email protected]; For full text: http://ericso.indiana.edu.                **Descriptors:**  Constitutional Law, Court Role, Elementary Secondary Education,                 Law Related Education, Political Science, Social Studies,  United              States History                                                               **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests,  Supreme Court,  United States Constitution                    
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