Table of Contents
The Supreme Court of the United States stands as one of the most powerful institutions in American government, wielding authority that touches virtually every aspect of our lives. From the healthcare we receive to the schools our children attend, from the air we breathe to the votes we cast, the Court’s decisions shape the legal landscape of the nation. Understanding the Supreme Court’s power and how it affects you is essential for every citizen who wants to comprehend how our democracy functions and how their rights are protected—or sometimes challenged.
What Is the Supreme Court and Why Does It Matter?
Article III of the Constitution establishes the federal judiciary, stating that “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” This constitutional foundation makes the Supreme Court the highest judicial authority in the United States, positioned as the final arbiter of legal disputes and constitutional questions.
The Supreme Court plays a very important role in our constitutional system of government. First, as the highest court in the land, it is the court of last resort for those looking for justice. Second, due to its power of judicial review, it plays an essential role in ensuring that each branch of government recognizes the limits of its own power. This unique position gives the Court tremendous influence over American law and society.
Today, there is one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. These nine individuals make decisions that can affect millions of Americans, often for generations to come. Like all federal judges, justices are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. They, typically, hold office for life. This lifetime appointment is designed to insulate justices from political pressure, allowing them to make decisions based on law rather than popular opinion.
The Foundation of Judicial Review: The Court’s Most Powerful Tool
The best-known power of the Supreme Court is judicial review, or the ability of the Court to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution. This extraordinary power allows nine unelected justices to overturn laws passed by Congress and signed by the President, or to strike down actions taken by the executive branch.
What makes this power even more remarkable is that it is not found within the text of the Constitution itself; the Court established this doctrine in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). In that landmark case, Marbury v. Madison was the first Supreme Court case where the Court asserted its authority to strike down a law as unconstitutional.
In the United States, judicial review is the legal power of a court to determine if a statute, treaty, or administrative regulation contradicts or violates the provisions of existing law, a state constitution, or ultimately the United States Constitution. This power extends to both federal and state laws, giving the Supreme Court the final say on what is constitutional across the entire nation.
The scope of this power is substantial. As of 2014, the United States Supreme Court has held 176 Acts of the U.S. Congress unconstitutional. In the period 1960–2019, the Supreme Court has held 483 laws unconstitutional in whole or in part. Each of these decisions has reshaped American law and affected the lives of countless citizens.
How Judicial Review Works in Practice
The power to declare laws unconstitutional has been deemed an implied power, derived from Article III and Article VI. The reasoning behind this power is straightforward but profound: It is the inherent duty of the courts to determine the applicable law in any given case. The Supremacy Clause says “[t]his Constitution” is the “supreme law of the land.” The Constitution therefore is the fundamental law of the United States.
This means that when federal or state laws conflict with the Constitution, the Constitution must prevail. Any law contrary to the Constitution is void. The federal courts have the duty to interpret and apply the Constitution and to decide whether a federal or state statute conflicts with the Constitution. This duty places the Supreme Court in the unique position of being able to check the power of both the legislative and executive branches.
The Court’s Jurisdiction: What Cases Can It Hear?
Article III, Section II of the Constitution establishes the jurisdiction (legal ability to hear a case) of the Supreme Court. The Court has two types of jurisdiction: original and appellate.
The court has original jurisdiction—when it is the first and only to hear a case—and appellate jurisdiction—when it reviews the decisions of lower courts. Original jurisdiction cases are relatively rare and include certain cases, e.g., suits between two or more states and/or cases involving ambassadors and other public ministers.
Most of the Court’s work involves appellate jurisdiction. The Court has appellate jurisdiction (the Court can hear the case on appeal) on almost any other case that involves a point of constitutional and/or federal law. This broad appellate jurisdiction allows the Court to review decisions from lower federal courts and state supreme courts on matters involving federal law or constitutional questions.
How Cases Reach the Supreme Court
Most of the cases heard by the Supreme Court are appeals from lower courts, primarily done through Writs of Certiorari, which order a lower court to deliver its case record for a higher court to review. The process of getting a case heard by the Supreme Court is highly selective.
Per these rules, four of the nine sitting Justices must vote to accept a case. This is known as the “rule of four,” and it ensures that a significant minority of justices believes a case deserves the Court’s attention. On average, the Court considers about 7,000 ‐ 8,000 petitions each term and accepts about 80 for oral argument. This means the Court accepts only about 1% of the cases it is asked to review, making it extremely difficult to have your case heard by the nation’s highest court.
As of March 16, 2026, the court has agreed to hear 59 cases during its 2025-2026 term. The court has scheduled 58 cases for argument. Each term runs from the first Monday in October and ends the Sunday prior to the first Monday in October of the following year. Typically, the Court takes a recess from late June until early October.
How Supreme Court Decisions Impact Your Daily Life
The decisions of the Supreme Court have an important impact on society at large, not just on lawyers and judges. While the Court may seem distant from everyday concerns, its rulings touch nearly every aspect of American life. The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims to be apolitical, the court regularly hears cases that involve some of the most contentious questions dividing the nation, and its decisions can change the course of our social, political, and economic future.
Civil Rights and Personal Freedoms
The Court protects civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution. Throughout American history, Supreme Court decisions have dramatically expanded—and sometimes restricted—the rights of individuals.
One of the most significant civil rights cases in American history was Brown v. Board of Education. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court sanctioned segregation by upholding the doctrine of “separate but equal.” The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People disagreed with this ruling, challenging the constitutionality of segregation in the Topeka, Kansas, school system. In 1954, the Court reversed its Plessy decision, declaring that “separate schools are inherently unequal.” This decision transformed American education and society, demonstrating the Court’s power to correct its own mistakes and advance civil rights.
The Court has also protected the rights of criminal defendants. In a unanimous decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, the Court held that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of counsel is a fundamental right, and the 14th Amendment extends that right to defendants in state courts, including those charged with felony offenses. This decision ensures that poor defendants receive legal representation, fundamentally changing the criminal justice system.
Healthcare and Reproductive Rights
Few areas demonstrate the Court’s impact on daily life more clearly than healthcare and reproductive rights. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court chose to overturn those landmark decisions. It held that the Constitution does not guarantee a right to abortion, as this right isn’t explicitly mentioned in the text, nor is it sufficiently “deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition” to be considered an implied right under the Due Process Clause.
In the majority ruling, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the move would return the question of how to regulate abortion “to the people and their elected representatives.” Consequently, the United States is now a patchwork of reproductive rights, and state supreme courts have become major players in ongoing disputes over the issue. This decision immediately affected millions of Americans, demonstrating how a single Supreme Court ruling can reshape the legal landscape overnight.
Education and Student Rights
The Supreme Court regularly decides cases that affect students and schools. Landmark Supreme Court cases have shaped history and have an impact on law-abiding citizens today. These cases cover everything from free speech in schools to drug testing of student athletes.
Nine students at an Ohio public school received 10-day suspensions for disruptive behavior without due process protections. The Supreme Court ruled for the students, saying that once the state provides an education for all of its citizens, it cannot deprive them of it without ensuring due process protections. This case established that students have constitutional rights that schools must respect.
The Supreme Court as a Check on Government Power
One of the most important functions of the Supreme Court is its role in the system of checks and balances. The Court sets appropriate limits on democratic government by ensuring that popular majorities cannot pass laws that harm and/or take undue advantage of unpopular minorities. In essence, it serves to ensure that the changing views of a majority do not undermine the fundamental values common to all Americans, i.e., freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and due process of law.
Recent Challenges to Presidential Power
At the start of the new year, it is impossible to talk about the Supreme Court in 2025, or begin 2026, without focusing on the justices’ handling of matters concerning the Trump administration. No president in history has challenged constitutional limits or sought to increase presidential power in the way that President Donald Trump has in this term in office.
Not surprisingly, hundreds of lawsuits – 358 up until the end of December – were brought challenging Trump’s actions in 2025, and already some came to the Supreme Court. Never before has the court been asked to rule on the legality of so many presidential actions in such a short period of time. This unprecedented volume of cases demonstrates the Court’s critical role in checking executive power.
This year, the court will decide cases on the merits docket about the president’s power to remove agency heads, the legality of Trump’s tariffs, and the constitutionality of his executive order on birthright citizenship. Each of these cases has the potential to significantly affect how much power future presidents will have and how that power can be exercised.
Independent Agencies and Executive Control
In this case, the Court is considering whether Congress had the power to limit the reasons the president could remove a commissioner in the Federal Trade Commission Act. Court observers say the case could have wider implications for presidential power to remove independent agency officials, including officials Trump removed from the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 2025.
This case illustrates how Supreme Court decisions can reshape the balance of power between branches of government, affecting how federal agencies operate and how much independence they have from presidential control.
Voting Rights and Democracy
The Supreme Court plays a crucial role in protecting—or limiting—voting rights and democratic processes. The Justices will weigh in on cases that could reshape environmental accountability, dismantle campaign finance limits, and alter the future of voting rights.
Redistricting and Representation
The Supreme Court has requested a rehearing for two appeals challenging the redistricting of Louisiana’s congressional map, focusing on the creation of a second majority-Black district. The controversy stems from the state’s adoption of Senate Bill 8 after a 2022 federal court ruling found the previous map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits election practices that dilute the voting power of minority groups.
The Supreme Court’s ruling could have broad implications for both the Voting Rights Act and redistricting practices nationwide. A decision upholding the lower court’s finding of racial gerrymandering may limit the scope of the Voting Rights Act’s protections in future redistricting efforts, potentially making it harder for minority groups to seek judicial intervention when electoral maps are drawn.
A sweeping decision limiting or invalidating it could enable states to redraw maps for Congress, state legislatures and local offices with reduced judicial oversight – potentially reshaping representation ahead of and beyond the 2026 midterms. This demonstrates how a single Supreme Court decision can affect who represents you in government.
Campaign Finance and Political Spending
Although contribution limits to political parties remain significantly higher than those to individual candidates ($44,300 to national parties versus $3,500 to candidates in the 2025–2026 cycle), a ruling in favor of the NRSC would effectively render individual limits meaningless. It would allow wealthy donors to funnel unlimited funds to specific candidates under the guise of party support, further weakening already fragile guardrails designed to limit corruption and undue influence.
Scholars view it as potentially the most significant campaign finance ruling since Citizens United v. FEC (2010). A decision could flood races with coordinated party spending during the 2026 midterms. These cases show how the Court’s decisions can fundamentally alter how elections are funded and conducted.
The Current Supreme Court Term: High-Stakes Cases
2025–2026 is shaping up to be another high-stakes Supreme Court term. As the Supreme Court’s 2025–2026 term comes to a close, a handful of blockbuster cases remain undecided. Legal experts say the outcomes could fundamentally reinterpret core constitutional provisions, shift the balance of power between branches of government and reshape American elections and governance for decades.
Birthright Citizenship
One of the most consequential cases involves the fundamental question of who is an American citizen. President Trump is attempting to undermine the promise of birthright citizenship to children born on U.S. soil. But the ACLU and partners are fighting to protect the rights of citizens that are plainly stated in the Constitution, federal statute, and reaffirmed by the Supreme Court for more than a century.
This case could affect millions of families and determine whether children born in the United States automatically become citizens, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. The outcome will have profound implications for immigration policy and constitutional interpretation.
LGBTQ+ Rights and Healthcare
The Court will also take up battles over LGBTQ+ rights and health care, immigration, and religious liberty for the incarcerated. Recent decisions have already begun reshaping this landscape. As applied to talk therapy by a licensed mental health counselor, a Colorado law banning conversion therapy regulates speech based on viewpoint and thus warrants strict scrutiny under the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court’s most recent term reshaped the legal landscape on immigration, transgender rights, and free speech. These decisions affect not only the specific individuals involved in the cases but also set precedents that will guide lower courts and policymakers for years to come.
Understanding the Court’s Decision-Making Process
To understand how the Supreme Court’s power affects you, it’s important to understand how the Court makes decisions. Between October and late June or early July the Supreme Court is “in session,” meaning it hears oral arguments, issues written decisions, and decides whether to take additional cases.
As of March 31, 2026, the court has issued 24 opinions for this term. Six cases were decided without argument. The Court can decide cases in several ways: through full opinions after oral argument, through summary decisions without argument, or through orders on its emergency docket.
The Emergency Docket and Shadow Docket
By my count, based on the SCOTUSblog website, there were at least 24 other rulings in 2025 on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket involving Trump administration actions. Of these, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Trump administration in 20 and against it four times.
Behind the decisions, procedural shifts like limits on nationwide injunctions and expanded use of the emergency docket signal a court increasingly driven by politics. The emergency docket allows the Court to make quick decisions without full briefing or oral argument, which can have immediate and significant impacts on people’s lives.
Precedent and Stare Decisis
Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in 1,250 cases. Of those, it reversed a lower court decision 891 times (71 percent) while affirming a lower court decision 347 times (28 percent). This shows that the Court frequently disagrees with lower courts, using its power to establish uniform legal standards across the country.
The principle of stare decisis—respecting precedent—is supposed to provide stability and predictability in the law. However, the Court can and does overturn its own precedents, as it did in the Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade. When the Court overturns precedent, it can dramatically change the legal landscape and affect rights that people have relied upon for decades.
The Court’s Impact on Specific Policy Areas
Environmental Protection and Regulatory Authority
This case pits the conservative movement’s opposition to courts’ deference to federal agencies (exemplified in the 2024 Supreme Court decision Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo) against its opposition to full judicial review and due process for noncitizens facing imminent removal. The Loper Bright decision overturned decades of precedent regarding how courts should defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes.
These state-level moves came in the wake of the 2024 Loper Bright v. Raimondo case. In this case, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal-level Chevron deference doctrine. While the 2024 Loper case did not directly affect the states, its move toward a less deferential standard of review was reflected in the six states which changed their deference doctrine in 2025. This shows how Supreme Court decisions can ripple through the entire legal system, affecting not just federal law but state law as well.
Immigration and Asylum
If the Supreme Court holds that federal courts must defer to the BIA’s judgment that particular noncitizens are not eligible for asylum, it will leave noncitizens with fewer legal protections from removal even where facts and the law support their asylum claims. It would also place additional power in the BIA, an administrative body that is more under the control of the political whims of any given presidential administration than the federal courts are.
Immigration cases demonstrate how the Court’s decisions can literally determine whether people can remain in the United States or must leave, affecting families and communities across the country.
Free Speech and First Amendment Rights
The Court regularly decides cases involving free speech, affecting what you can say, where you can say it, and how the government can regulate speech. These cases range from student speech in schools to political speech in elections to professional speech by therapists and counselors.
The Supreme Court’s decision in Chiles v. Salazar, essentially declaring unconstitutional the Colorado law prohibiting talk therapy to attempt to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity, continues a pattern of inconsistent decisions concerning the ability of the government to regulate speech by professionals. Although it is an 8-1 decision, if followed, it could put in danger the countless ways in which the government regulates this form of speech.
How to Stay Informed About Supreme Court Decisions
Given the enormous impact of Supreme Court decisions on your life, staying informed about the Court’s activities is important for engaged citizenship. An informed public has the power to confront autocracy. The People’s Guide to the 2025–2026 Supreme Court Term is part of that effort—making complex cases clear and accessible so that people everywhere can understand what’s at stake and play a role in shaping our future.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in our nation. It’s charged with ensuring equal justice under the law, as well as upholding rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The court’s decisions shape how our rights are interpreted over the course of generations, and in some cases even centuries.
Resources for Following the Court
Several organizations and websites provide accessible information about Supreme Court cases and decisions. The Supreme Court’s own website publishes opinions and oral argument transcripts. Legal advocacy organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, the Brennan Center for Justice, and others provide analysis of cases from different perspectives.
News organizations dedicated to covering the Court, such as SCOTUSblog, offer detailed coverage of cases, oral arguments, and decisions. These resources can help you understand not just what the Court decided, but why it matters for your life and your community.
The Limits of Supreme Court Power
While the Supreme Court wields enormous power, it is not unlimited. The Court depends on the other branches of government and on public acceptance to enforce its decisions. States cannot nullify decisions of the federal courts. Several government officials in southern states, including the governor and legislature of Alabama, refused to follow the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision. They argued that the states could nullify federal court decisions if they felt that the federal courts were violating the Constitution. The Court rejected this argument, but the resistance demonstrated that the Court’s power ultimately depends on compliance.
The salaries of the justices cannot be decreased during their term of office. These restrictions are meant to protect the independence of the judiciary from the political branches of government. This independence is crucial for the Court to serve as an effective check on the other branches, but it also means that justices are largely insulated from public accountability.
Constitutional Amendments Can Override Court Decisions
When the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution, Congress and the states can override that interpretation through the constitutional amendment process. This happened after the Dred Scott decision, when the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments officially abolished slavery and granted citizenship to all individuals born in the United States.
However, the amendment process is deliberately difficult, requiring supermajorities in Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states. This means that in practice, Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution are very difficult to overturn.
The Political Nature of the Modern Court
From birthright citizenship to the future of independent agencies and voting-rights enforcement, the disputes test foundational assumptions about citizenship, executive authority, minority protections and campaign finance. By the time the high court breaks for summer recess, the legal and political terrain of the United States may look markedly different.
The Court’s composition matters enormously for how it decides cases. Justices appointed by Republican presidents often vote differently than justices appointed by Democratic presidents on controversial issues. This has led to increased attention to the confirmation process and to concerns about the Court becoming too politicized.
The authoritarian threats from the Trump-Vance administration will test the limits of the Justices, some of whom have frequently sided with the President in unexplained shadow docket decisions. The term approaches as the far-right legal movement continues to use the Court to advance an agenda that makes our country less fair, less safe, and less free. This perspective, while contested, reflects real concerns about whether the Court is functioning as a neutral arbiter or as a political institution.
What You Can Do: Civic Engagement and the Courts
Understanding the Supreme Court’s power is the first step toward meaningful civic engagement. While you cannot vote for Supreme Court justices, you can influence who appoints them by voting for president and senators. Presidential elections have long-term consequences for the Court because justices serve for life.
You can also support organizations that litigate cases before the Court, whether those organizations align with your values from a conservative, liberal, or other perspective. These organizations play a crucial role in bringing cases to the Court and shaping the arguments that justices hear.
Additionally, you can educate yourself and others about the Court’s decisions and their implications. At the ACLU we believe that information is power, and that informed opinions make a more perfect union. That’s why we’ve taken a hard look inside this Supreme Court term and analyzed what the court’s cases reveal about its values, and how its direction and influence impacts our civil liberties.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Supreme Court Power
This year’s cluster – potentially landing amid the heat of midterm campaigning – could simultaneously redefine citizenship, executive power over regulators, minority voting influence, and election funding rules. The decisions the Court makes in the coming months will shape American law and society for years, if not decades.
Ultimately, the question is whether the Supreme Court will check a president who, in the words of his chief of staff, feels he can do anything. Nothing was more important in 2025, or is likely to be more important in 2026, than this. This question goes to the heart of the Court’s role in our constitutional system.
The Supreme Court’s power to interpret the Constitution and review the actions of the other branches of government makes it a crucial institution in American democracy. Its decisions affect your rights, your opportunities, and your daily life in countless ways. Whether the issue is healthcare, education, voting rights, free speech, criminal justice, or the environment, the Court’s interpretations of the Constitution shape the legal framework within which we all live.
Key Takeaways: Why the Supreme Court Matters to You
The Supreme Court’s power extends into virtually every area of American life. Here are the essential points to remember:
- Judicial Review: The Court can strike down laws and government actions that violate the Constitution, making it a powerful check on the other branches of government.
- Final Authority: As the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court has the final say on questions of federal law and constitutional interpretation.
- Precedent Setting: Court decisions create legal precedents that lower courts must follow, affecting how laws are interpreted and applied across the country.
- Civil Rights Protection: The Court plays a crucial role in protecting individual rights and liberties, though it can also restrict those rights through its decisions.
- Balance of Power: The Court serves as a check on both the legislative and executive branches, helping to maintain the constitutional system of separated powers.
- Long-Term Impact: Because justices serve for life, the Court’s composition and decisions can influence American law for generations.
- Limited but Powerful: While the Court cannot enforce its own decisions and can be overridden by constitutional amendment, its interpretations of the law carry enormous weight.
- Political Significance: The Court’s decisions often involve controversial political issues, making the appointment of justices a matter of significant political importance.
The Court’s Role in Protecting Democracy
The Court’s role has significant implications for the rule of law and governance, influencing not only American law but also inspiring similar judicial frameworks in other democracies worldwide. Overall, the power of judicial review is a fundamental aspect of the judicial system, ensuring that laws align with constitutional principles, although its exercise can lead to significant political and social debates.
The Supreme Court stands as a guardian of constitutional principles, tasked with ensuring that the government operates within the bounds set by the Constitution. This role is essential for protecting minority rights against majority tyranny and for maintaining the rule of law. At the same time, the Court’s power raises important questions about democratic accountability and the proper role of unelected judges in a democratic society.
Understanding the Supreme Court’s power—its sources, its limits, and its effects—is essential for anyone who wants to understand how American government works and how it affects their life. The Court’s decisions shape the legal landscape in which we all live, determining the scope of our rights, the limits of government power, and the meaning of the Constitution itself.
As citizens, we have a responsibility to stay informed about the Court’s work, to understand how its decisions affect us and our communities, and to participate in the democratic process that shapes the Court’s composition. The Supreme Court’s power is immense, but in a democracy, an informed and engaged citizenry remains the ultimate check on all government power, including that of the courts.
For more information about the Supreme Court and its current cases, visit the official Supreme Court website or explore resources from organizations like SCOTUSblog, which provides comprehensive coverage of the Court’s activities. By staying informed and engaged, you can better understand how the Supreme Court’s power affects you and participate more effectively in our democratic system.