The Court: What The Justices Say It Is

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court ARTICLE III SECTION I THE COURT What They Say It Is The Justices' words instruct the nation, and often address history

Woodrow Wilson said they were a Constitutional Convention in continuous session, and Charles Evans Hughes observed with only a twist of irony that the Constitution is what they say it is. Each working day -- from the first Monday of October until the end of June or early July -- the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court are asked by specific litigants with particular problems, Pray tell me, what does the Constitution mean?

When a major ruling is announced or a Justice resigns, as Lewis Powell did last week, public attention briefly turns to the court. But for the most part...

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