Judicial Branch & Supreme Court Concepts

The big picture: What you need to know and why.

The Littlest Government

Revolutionary War struggle against Britain made Americans wary of strong executives and powerful governmentsArticles of Confederation deliberately created a weak American governmentConfederation go...

The Judiciary of the Articles of Confederation

Lack of judiciary in Articles of Confederation became a problem because no one could settle disputes between statesConstitution created in 1787 to strengthen government; included establishment of n...

Article III and the Birth of a Federal Court System

Judicial branch established in Article III of US ConstitutionConstitution did not provide much detail in describing judiciary; Article III created Supreme Court and allowed Congress to create more...

The Supreme Court

Supreme Court is most powerful and important institution of judicial branchConstitution does not stipulate the number of justices on the Supreme CourtToday there are 9 Supreme Court justices; in th...

Federal Court Jurisdiction

Supreme Court holds original jurisdiction over certain casesSupreme Court holds appellate jurisdiction over all casesSuperem Court decisions validate or invalidate laws, guide lower court rulings,...

The Inferior Courts

Many different inferior courts serve below the Supreme Court within the federal judiciaryFederal appeals courts review lower court rulings and sometimes pass cases on to the Supreme CourtSpecial tr...