The U.S. Supreme Court works by selecting a small number of cases each year from thousands of appeals, hearing arguments from both sides, and issuing written opinions that become the final word on federal law and the Constitution. Nine justices sit on the bench, and their rulings bind every other court in the country. Understanding how the Supreme Court works means following a case from the petition stage through oral argument, private conference, and the written opinion that ends it.
Who Sits on the Court
Federal law fixes the bench at one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, with six needed to hear a case.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1 – Number of Justices and Quorum The Constitution itself sets no number, no age minimum, no citizenship rule, and no requirement that a justice be a lawyer.2Supreme Court of the United States. Frequently Asked Questions – General Information Congress has resized the Court several times in the past; the nine-seat arrangement has held since 1869.3Congress.gov. Legislative Control over the Size of the Supreme Court
Justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate on a simple majority vote. The Senate Judiciary Committee runs public hearings first, then sends the nomination to the floor. Since 2017, Senate rules no longer permit a filibuster of Supreme Court nominees, so the majority party can confirm a justice without support from the other side.
Once confirmed, a justice takes two oaths: the Constitutional Oath under 5 U.S.C. § 3331 to “support and defend the Constitution,” and the Judicial Oath under 28 U.S.C. § 453 to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich.”4Supreme Court of the United States. Oaths of Office – Texts, History, and Traditions
Article III says federal judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” which in practice is life tenure.5Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Article III A justice serves until resignation, retirement, or removal. The only removal route is impeachment by the House and conviction by the Senate, and no Supreme Court justice has ever been removed that way.6United States Courts. A Journalists Guide to the Federal Courts – Judges and Judicial Administration That high bar is the point. It keeps justices from having to worry about political consequences when they rule.
How Cases Get to the Court
In a typical year, roughly 5,000 to 7,000 petitions arrive. The Court grants full review with oral argument in about 80.7Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court at Work That works out to an acceptance rate of one or two percent.
Most of the Court’s docket is appellate. A party who lost in a federal appeals court or in a state’s highest court files a petition for a writ of certiorari, asking the Supreme Court to order the record up for review.8United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures The petition must be filed within 90 days of the lower court’s judgment. Criminal cases can get a good-cause extension of up to 60 days, provided the request comes at least 10 days before the original deadline.9United States Department of Justice. Time to Appeal or Petition for Review or Certiorari Parties who can’t afford the filing costs may petition to proceed in forma pauperis, which waives docket fees when granted.10Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rules – Rule 39 – Proceedings In Forma Pauperis
To take a case, at least four justices must vote to grant review. This is the Rule of Four.8United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures The clearest draw is a circuit split, where two or more federal appeals courts have decided the same legal question differently. Roughly 70 percent of the cases accepted involve an apparent conflict among the circuits.11Congress.gov. The U.S. Courts of Appeals – Background and Circuit Splits A split alone isn’t enough; the question also has to be important enough to justify the Court’s time. Major constitutional issues and questions with broad national impact draw attention too.
A denied petition doesn’t mean the justices agree with the ruling below. It just means they declined to review it, and the lower court’s decision stands.
Two boundaries are worth knowing. Under original jurisdiction, the Court hears a handful of cases as a trial court, limited by Article III to disputes between states and cases involving foreign ambassadors.5Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Article III And the Court never issues advisory opinions. If there is no live controversy between real parties with something at stake, the justices won’t touch it.
The Term and the Argument
Each annual cycle is called an “October Term” and runs from the first Monday in October through late June or early July.12Supreme Court of the United States. Calendars and Lists From October through April, the Court alternates between sittings, when justices hear arguments and release opinions, and recesses, when they read briefs and write. Arguments end in April; the remaining weeks go to finishing opinions. The most closely watched decisions tend to arrive in the last days of June.13Supreme Court of the United States. The Court and Its Procedures
Before argument, both sides file written briefs setting out their arguments and the precedent they rely on. Outside parties with a stake in the outcome can file amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs offering perspectives the parties themselves may not have raised. Amicus briefs must be filed by an attorney admitted to practice before the Court and are expected to add something rather than repeat one side’s points.14Supreme Court of the United States. Rules of the Supreme Court – Rule 37 In big cases, dozens arrive from trade groups, advocacy organizations, state attorneys general, and members of Congress.
At oral argument, each side gets 30 minutes unless the Court orders otherwise.15Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rules – Rule 28 – Oral Argument Prepared remarks rarely survive the first minute. Justices interrupt with questions almost immediately, and the exchange usually matters more than any planned presentation. When the federal government has an interest, the Solicitor General often argues as a third party, and the Court may add time.
How the Justices Decide
After argument, the justices meet in private conference to discuss the case and take a preliminary vote. No clerks, no staff, no recording. The Chief Justice speaks first, followed by each justice in order of seniority.
If the Chief Justice is in the majority, the Chief either writes the opinion or assigns it to another justice in the majority. If the Chief is in the minority, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the opinion. This assignment power matters, because the author shapes how broadly or narrowly the ruling reads.
Drafts then circulate among chambers for weeks or months of revision. Votes shift, language changes, and on occasion a concurrence picks up enough support to become the majority. The process is more fluid than the final printed opinion suggests.
Several kinds of opinions can come out of a single case:
- A majority opinion carries the force of law and binds every court in the country. It reflects the views of at least five justices when all nine participate.
- A concurring opinion agrees with the result but offers different reasoning or flags a point the majority didn’t reach.
- A dissenting opinion disagrees with the result. It has no immediate legal force, but dissents sometimes lay the groundwork for a future Court to reconsider the question.
- A plurality opinion is what happens when a majority agrees on the outcome but not on a single rationale. It announces the judgment without the full binding weight of a true majority opinion.
- A per curiam opinion is unsigned, issued by the Court as a whole, typically in cases the justices treat as straightforward.
The Emergency Docket
Alongside the merits docket, the Court handles a steady flow of emergency applications. These are addressed to the individual justice assigned to the federal circuit the case comes from, and they typically ask the Court to block a lower court’s order from taking effect while the losing side seeks full review.16Legal Information Institute. Supreme Court Rules – Rule 23 – Stays
To win a stay, the applicant generally has to show four things: that four justices would likely vote to hear the case, that a majority would probably find the lower court got it wrong, that irreparable harm would result without the stay, and that the balance of harms favors the applicant. The assigned justice can act alone or refer the matter to the full Court. When the full Court acts, five votes are needed to grant the stay.17Supreme Court of the United States. A Reporters Guide to Applications Pending Before the Supreme Court
These orders, sometimes called the “shadow docket,” draw increasing scrutiny. They typically come with abbreviated briefing, no oral argument, and often no signed opinion explaining the reasoning. Critics say consequential questions are being resolved through thinly reasoned orders that skip the deliberative process the merits docket is built around. Defenders say emergency relief has always been part of the Court’s job and the volume reflects more cases needing urgent action.
Ethics and Recusal
Federal law requires a justice to step aside from a case when “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The grounds listed in 28 U.S.C. § 455 include personal bias toward a party, prior involvement as a lawyer or government employee in the same matter, and financial interests in the outcome. The statute also covers family: a justice must recuse if a spouse, child, or close relative is a party, a lawyer in the case, or has a financial stake in the result.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 455 – Disqualification of Justice, Judge, or Magistrate Judge
In November 2023, the Court adopted its own formal Code of Conduct for the first time, organized around five canons. Justices must avoid conduct that undermines public confidence in the judiciary, must not engage in political activity or endorse candidates, and must not use nonpublic information from their work for personal purposes. The Code also sets a “presumption of impartiality,” meaning a justice has an obligation to sit unless a specific disqualification ground applies.19Supreme Court of the United States. Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court
Unlike judges on lower federal courts, a Supreme Court justice’s recusal decision is not reviewable by any higher authority. Each justice decides individually whether to participate, and that remains one of the most contested features of how the Court governs itself.