The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the land. All rulings issued by the Supreme Court are final, unless they are overturned by subsequent Supreme Court rulings.

The Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government consists of a large number of courts that can be grouped into three main areas: District Courts, Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court. As the highest court, the Supreme Court hears appeals from either level of the two lower courts.

The Supreme Court has nine members: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. As of 2009, the members of the Court are as follows:

• John Roberts, Chief Justice
• Samuel Alito
• Stephen Breyer
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• Anthony Kennedy
• Antonin Scalia
• Sonia Sotomayor
• John Paul Stevens
• Clarence Thomas.

(Note: John Roberts is officially the Chief Justice of the United States, not Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.)

Next page > Procedures of the Court > Page 1, 2

Graphics courtesy of ClipArt.com, Wikipedia