How powerful is the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court is very powerful

The Supreme Court has very considerable power. Its power of judicial review extends beyond determination of the constitutionality of laws to the action of government. On only five occasions have the Court's rulings been overturned by constitutional amendment. Such is the Court's authority and prestige that it is almost always unchallenged by those who disagree with its decisions-as was clear with the Bush v Gore (2000) ruling. Moreover, because they are not subject to election and hold their positions for life, Supreme Court justices are protected from public pressure in a way that politicians are not, which allows them to make controversial decisions such as Roe v Wade (1973).

BUT

It is a reactive court and only rules on cases that are appealed to it. It does not initiate its own cases Congress has power to alter the number of justices on the court. This was threatened when the court was obstructive to parts of the New Deal and Roosevelt threatened his 'court-packing' plan to overcome this obstruction. The court backed down and the numbers of the court have not been changed since the 1869 Judiciary Act.

Supreme Court interpretation of the Constitution can be overturned by the constitutional amendment, as in 1913 when the Sixteenth Amendment allowed a federal income tax to be levied, thus overcoming the Supreme Court's ruling that this was unconstitutional. This has been suggested as a way of dealing with issues such as abortion or flag burning, where the court's decisions have angered groups, who then lobby for an amendment - it could not overturn it. However, although often threatened, this eventually is unlikely to occur, as it would be difficult to gather the required support in Congress and the States

The court can exercise judicial self-restraint by refusing to hear cases appealed to it. An example is the Schiavo 'right to die' case in Decisions to ignore cases indicated that the court is deferring to the elected branches of government and refusing to enter the political thicket or go against prevailing public opinion on particular issues.

The court lacks the power to enforce its decisions, and has to rely on both political and public acceptance that its decision was the 'right' one. In 1954 the court was unable to enforce its decision in the Brown v Board of Education case to de-segregate 'with all deliberate speed'. The southern states refused to de-segregate, claiming that the states' right allowed them not to. In 1957 President Eisenhower famously had to send for federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce de- segregation of the high school, and, 10 years after Brown, the southern states were still not fully de- segregated. The Civil Rights Act finally ended segregation by federal law in 1964.

Some Supreme Court decisions are ignored, such as the continuation of religious activity in some public areas despite the court's ruling in Engel v Vitale It only has the capacity to hear about 100 cases a year

Limitations to Supreme Court power Following the Brown v Board of Education ruling of 1954, the process of implementation required the use of troops which necessitated the support of the executive branch In Furman v Georgia (1972), the Court declared all existing death penalty laws unconstitutional. However, public opinion strongly supported the death penalty and hence many state legislatures passed revised death penalty measures. In Gregg v Georgia (1976) the Court retreated from its original position. Anthony Kennedy, an assistant justice on the Supreme Court, stated in 2000: '…. it is very dangerous for people who are not elected, who have lifetime positions, to begin taking public stances on issues that political branches of government must wrestle with.' In Casey v Planned Parenthood (1992) a majority on the Rehnquist Court were reluctant to effectively overturn the Roe v Wade (1973) ruling, even though they did not necessarily agree with the original ruling. Although the number of Supreme Court justices has been stable since 1869, there is no constitutional requirement for that number to stay constant.