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The Supreme Court of the United States is the judicial branch of the United States. Its members are not elected and have no term limits, serving for life.[1]
History
Samuel Chase became the only Supreme Court justice to be impeached in 1804 but was never removed from office. The number of justices on the Supreme Court has changed six times and has been set at nine since 1869.[2]
Important decisions
In Dred Scott v. Sandford in 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that Black people were “merchandise” and could not sue for their freedom from slavery.[3]
In 1903, in Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress and the Bureau of Indian Affairs could manage native land and resources even if they were reserved to native nations by treaties.[4]
In the 1944 case Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that President Franklin Roosevelt’s internment of over 100,000 Japanese immigrants was constitutional.[3]
In March 2022, after Abu Zabaydah was tortured in a CIA black site in Poland and waterboarded over 80 times, he sent a petition to the Supreme Court asking for the testimony of two psychologists who were at the site. The Supreme Court blocked the testimony, claiming it would reveal "state secrets," and sent Zabaydah to Guantánamo Bay concentration camp, where he remains today.[5]
In June 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing U.S. states to ban abortion. 72% of the U.S. population opposed overturning Roe v. Wade.[1] The Supreme Court has also threatened to ban gay marriage[6] and contraception.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Party for Socialism and Liberation (2022-06-24). "PSL statement: Supreme Court eviscerates abortion rights, the time to fight back is NOW!" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-06-28. Retrieved 2022-06-30.
- ↑ Walter Smolarek (2022-12-04). "Civics class for radicals: The Supreme Court" Liberation News. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Stefanie Fisher (2022-05-02). "The Supreme Court: Last line of defense for the ruling class" Liberation School. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
- ↑ Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (2014). An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States: 'Ghost Dance Prophecy' (p. 189). [PDF] Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807000403
- ↑ Marjorie Cohn (2022-03-14). "Supreme Court says torture at CIA Black Site is a “State Secret”" Monthly Review. Archived from the original on 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ↑ Eric London (2022-05-06). "The Supreme Court’s ruling on abortion: The spearhead of a massive assault on democratic rights" World Socialist Web Site. Archived from the original on 2022-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-29.
- ↑ "The Rightwing’s Supreme Court Coup" (2022-06-24). Against the Current. Archived from the original on 2022-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-29.