The petitioner argues first, then the respondent. If the petitioner reserves time for rebuttal, the petitioner speaks last. After the Court is seated, the Chief Justice acknowledges counsel for the petitioner, who already is standing at the podium. The attorney then begins: "Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. Only the Chief Justice is addressed as Mr. Chief Justice. Justices, typically, ask questions throughout each presentation.
However, in courtroom or classroom simulations, to put student attorneys at ease, student Justices do not ask questions for the first two minutes of each side's argument. Before leaving the podium after making the initial presentation, counsel for the petitioner may reserve some time for rebuttal after the respondent's counsel has presented.
The petitioner — not the Court — is responsible for keeping track of the time remaining for rebuttal. In typical program simulations, more than one student attorney argues each side. In that instance, they should inform the student Marshal before the court session begins how they wish to divide their time. Usually, the first student attorney to speak also handles the rebuttal. When oral arguments are concluded, the Justices have to decide the case. They do so at what is known as the Justices' Conference.
When Court is in session, there are two conferences scheduled per week — one on Wednesday afternoon and one on Friday afternoon. At their Wednesday conference, the Justices talk about the cases heard on Monday. At their Friday conference, they discuss cases heard on Tuesday and Wednesday. When Court is not in session, no Wednesday conference is held.
Before going into the Conference, the Justices frequently discuss the relevant cases with their law clerks, seeking to get different perspectives on the case. At the end of these sessions, sometimes the Justices have a fairly good idea of how they will vote in the case; other times, they are still uncommitted. According to Supreme Court protocol, only the Justices are allowed in the Conference room at this time—no police, law clerks, secretaries, etc.
The Chief Justice calls the session to order and, as a sign of the collegial nature of the institution, all the Justices shake hands. The first order of business, typically, is to discuss the week's petitions for certiorari , i. After the petitions for certiorari are dealt with, the Justices begin to discuss the cases that were heard since their last Conference.
The Court does not give advisory opinions; rather, its function is limited only to deciding specific cases. The Justices must exercise considerable discretion in deciding which cases to hear, since approximately 7,, civil and criminal cases are filed in the Supreme Court each year from the various state and federal courts.
The Supreme Court also has "original jurisdiction" in a very small number of cases arising out of disputes between States or between a State and the Federal Government. When the Supreme Court rules on a constitutional issue, that judgment is virtually final; its decisions can be altered only by the rarely used procedure of constitutional amendment or by a new ruling of the Court.
However, when the Court interprets a statute, new legislative action can be taken. Chief Justice Marshall expressed the challenge which the Supreme Court faces in maintaining free government by noting: "We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding.
Toggle navigation. The Court and Constitutional Interpretation. Remembering that the Supreme Court is independent and has discretion to decide which cases it will hear, it is possible for it to decline hearing an election-related case.
If it does choose to hear a case, it will take a vote of only four of the nine justices to do so. Depending on the exact nature of the case behind the writ of certiorari, the conservative majority could prove a powerful aid or obstacle to getting those four required votes. View the discussion thread. Skip to main content. Tags election U. A must-read political newsletter that breaks news and catches you up on what is happening. Most Popular - Easy to read, daily digest of the news from The Hill and around the world.
The Hill's must read political newsletter that breaks news and catches you up on what happened in the morning and what to look for after lunch.
Delivered to your inbox every weekday evening, our politics and policy newsletters are a daily digest of today's news and what's expected to break tomorrow. National Security. In Arizona sued California over water from the Colorado River. The completed trial record covered more than 26, pages. Briefs and other documents filed by the states took 4, more. The Justices heard 16 hours of oral argument in the fall of , six hours more in November,
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