Question about Article III in the US Constitution

Article III says... "In all cases... in which a State shall be Party, the Supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction." Isn't this saying that the Judicial Branch has final say so when it comes to telling states what they can't do? Aside from this and a few other cases spelled out in Article III, Congress can overrule the Supreme Court. This is how I read it.

Does this mean that the Supreme Court can tell states that they can't do and that Supreme Court decisions on what states can't do can only be overruled by the Supreme Court?

 

Shotty explanation here but I remember something about expressed/implied powers...the State has "Power" over anything not implied/expressed as a Federal....

Not sure how this is tied to the court system though, but I'd imagine it all goes back to it. I'm sure some of our attorneys/law students will chime in with an answer for you.

 

Yeah, Amendment 9 or 10 talks about expressed/implied powers. But it seems that Article 3 expressly states that the Supreme Court has power over any case in which a State is named a Party. Hey, Merry Christmas.

 

Technically, Congress can pass legislation stating that a particular issue is not subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court. But it has never done that and very likely never will.

 

Is this because of Article III, or is this stated elsewhere in the Constitution?

 

Under Article III of the Constitution the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to hear all cases that the Constitution specifically assigns to it, such as litigation between states. This is called original jurisdiction. The Court's right to hear such cases cannot be restricted.

The other type of jurisdiction accorded to the Supreme Court is called Appellete Jurisdiction. This is the right to hear cases brought before it from lower courts. Unlike original jurisdiction, appellete jurisdiction may be altered and set by Congress.

By the way, when I said Congress has never altered the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, I may well have been wrong about that. However, I don't know of any specific case to support that.

 

That's how I read it, but some guy who says he's a law student is telling me once the Supreme Court makes a decision, it is untouchable, except by the Supreme Court.

 

The law student is right, at least in those instances when the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of a law. No law, state or federal, can be in conflict with the Constitution, if so, it will be struck down as unconstitutional. Who decides whether a law is in conflict with the Constitution or not? Ultimately, the Supreme Court has the final say. Once the Supreme Court makes a decision on the constitutionality of a law, that decision is untouchable, expect by the Supreme Court itself.

However, you have to keep in mind that Congress can always just change the Constitution. For example, lets say Congress adds an Amendment to the Constitution that basically said "Abortion is illegal." That would "overrule" all previous Supreme Court decisions that interpreted the older version of the Constitution. To amend the Constitution, all you need is 66.6% approval of both the House and the Senate, as well as the approval of the legislatures of three-fourths of the States. If something is so important that more than 66.6% of Americans and their political representatives agree that the Constitution needs to be amended, all they have to do is do it (like they have done 16 times since 1800, including 10 times during 1900 to 2000, the last time being 1992).

Also, if Congress doesn't like the current Supreme Court's opinion on what is constitutional or not, they can always just impeach whoever they want from the Supreme Court. Do do so, all that is needed is the approval of a simple majority of the House and 66.6% of the Senate. Throughout American history, Congress has impeached 13 federal judges, including 3 in the 80's.

 

IMHO, the US Supreme Court is the most dangerous branch of government.

 

The only way for a Supreme Court decision to be altered (aside from the court overruling itself) is for Congress to pass an Amendment to the Constitution specifically directed at the issue decided in the case. I think it's only happened 3 times in U.S. history.

As far as the Supreme Court having the power to tell the States what they can't do, that's a little more tricky... You get into issues of federalism that could be debated forever.