如果你浏览美国.S. 宪法, it becomes obvious that the Founding Fathers viewed the federal court system as playing a minor role in the governance of the new country. 首先介绍大会的描述和定义, and its powers and responsibilities are presented in 10 very specific listings of duties and requirements for service. 接下来提到行政部门，分为四个部分, most of which are taken up with a discussion of the Electoral College and but one statement presenting powers and responsibilities. 当政府的第三个分支, the judiciary is mentioned briefly defining the federal court system as made of “one supreme court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.“有一个简短的权力清单, 但它们是笼统的，主要处理外交事务和国与国之间的问题.
While the third branch of 政府 appears as an afterthought in the view of the writers of the 宪法, 随着时间的推移，司法部门, 尤其是最高法院, has emerged as a significant force for defining what the 宪法 says and means and most importantly for creating a vision of national governance and societal change. The Supreme Court has decided hundreds of cases and settled legal arguments dealing with matters of personal freedoms of speech, 宗教, 新闻发布会, 平等受教育机会, 住房, 就业, 并支付, 公司的权力和权利, 工会, 政治团体和社会机构, 以及对个人自由的扩张或限制. The third branch of 政府 has in effect become a key public policy player in American 政府 that often overshadows the Congress and the executive branch.
The federal judiciary is organized into three levels — 94 district courts (often termed the courts of first entry), 许多法律问题和争论是从哪里开始的, 13个上诉法院, 顾名思义是什么, 决定下级法院判决的上诉, 以及最高法院, 宪法内容的最终仲裁者. 最高法院有九名大法官. Judges to the federal courts are appointed by the 总统 and approved by the Senate; they enjoy lifetime service with little possibility of removal through impeachment, and their secretive deliberations and professional and personal conduct often keeps them protected from public scrutiny and criticism.
因为联邦法官是由总统任命并经参议院批准的, partisan politics plays a significant role not just in who gets appointed but how past judicial decisions might influence future decisions. 例如, 特朗普总统在担任总统期间任命了三名最高法院法官, all of whom were conservative in ideology and rendered past case decisions that might signal how they would vote on controversial issues such as abortion rights The hearings on the three appointments, 这些都是必需的, were contentious as Democratic Senate minority members on the Judiciary Committee sought to raise questions about the suitability of the appointees and tried to marshal public opinion against the nominees. But with the Republicans in control of the Senate and the Judiciary Committee all three Trump appointees were approved.
The conservative tilt of the Trump appointed court led to one of the most controversial decisions in recent years as the Court in a vote of 6-3 — Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s 健康 — eliminated the constitutional right to abortion access and gave states the authority to ban abortion. 这一决定推翻了自1972年罗伊诉罗伊案以来一直存在的全国堕胎权. 韦德案，给州, 主要在南部和西部的共和党立法机构, the opportunity to pass laws that banned abortions for time periods beginning in some cases as early as six weeks. Many of these state laws made abortion access difficult if not impossible even if the pregnancy occurred as a result of rape or incest or endangered the life of the mother or the unborn baby. The Dobbs decision set off an avalanche of protest from advocates of a women’s right to choose whether to have an abortion and a series of court cases which sought to limit the time period to apply the law. But it was clear that the presidential power of appointing judges and Senate approval can have significant impacts on public policy and changes in the character of individual liberties, 甚至是曾经被法律保护的自由.
One other case recently decided by the Supreme Court revealed that the conservative faction is not wedded to views that may benefit conservative state legislatures or overturn past precedents. 在北卡罗来纳州的一起案件中，最高法院以6比3的票数做出了摩尔诉琼斯案的裁决. Harper — rejected what had come to be termed the “independent state legislative” theory which took the position that state courts had no authority to limit the power of state legislatures regarding federal elections. 这一决定被视为不受党派干预的选举法倡导者的胜利. The six justices — two who were Trump appointees — joined the liberal bloc of three justice and the Chief Justice John Roberts- to argue that the state courts had the right to restrict the North Carolina legislature from passing laws designed to make it more difficult to conduct free, 公开和公平的联邦选举. The decision of the Court surprised liberals and critics of election interference who viewed the decision as a moderate response to a clearly partisan and conservative legal ploy that would likely weaken our democracy.
最高法院每年10月正式开庭，6月底结束. 在此期间，法官审理案件, 其中一些对国家和美国人民具有重大意义, 其他技术影响有限的. 法官们经常盘问纠纷双方的法律代表, retire to their offices to study the legal precedents and case law and then meet privately to take a vote and decide who will write the majority and minority opinions. 他们所做的决定, whether momentous or technical shape the character and quality of life in our country and ensure that the federal courts, 尤其是最高法院, holds the position as an equal branch of 政府 in a way not intended by the Founders of our country.