The Supreme Court & the Judicial Branch

by bam

A non-partisan, institutional deep dive into how the federal judiciary actually works: the structure of the federal courts (94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, one Supreme Court), how a judge or justice is nominated and confirmed, how a case reaches the Supreme Court (certiorari and the 'rule of four'), what happens at oral argument and in the justices' private conference, how opinions (majority, concurring, dissenting) get written and what precedent means, how judges read the Constitution (described evenhandedly, not argued for or against), and how the other branches, and the People, check the courts. Cited to the National Archives, Congress.gov, the federal courts, and the Federal Judicial Center. This is how the institution works, not a verdict on any ruling.