The Ultimate SCOTUS Quiz

The court met in New York City and Philadelphia, then in various locations in Washington, including the U.S. Capitol, until 1935, when a dedicated Supreme Court building was built at the urging of Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

Article Three describes the federal court system, including the Supreme Court.

John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Article Three of the Constitution leaves it up to Congress to determine the number of justices.

Between 1863 and 1866, there were ten justices on the Supreme Court.

The specific wording in the Constitution says justices may serve "during good behavior." Effectively, they serve for life unless they resign, retire or are impeached.

Samuel Chase was impeached, but later acquitted, and kept his seat on the court. Abe Fortas was forced to resign ahead of impeachment hearings, but no justice has ever been fully impeached and removed from the court.

Roosevelt's proposed law to increase the number of justices was sometimes known as his "court-packing plan," but the law was not passed.

The most senior judges (with the Chief Justice regarded as most senior regardless of actual time as a justice) sit in the center of the bench, while the justices with least seniority sit at the ends.

The justice with the least seniority has to fetch coffee. Even on the highest court in the land it stinks to be the rookie.

The Dred Scott decision, denying African-Americans citizenship, is a shameful mark on the Supreme Court's record. It was undone by a congressional law and the Fourteenth Amendment.

It takes four justices to agree that a case is important enough for the Supreme Court.

The court only takes on about 80 of the 7,000 to 8,000 cases presented to it in a term.

The phrase "Equal Justice Under law" was proposed by the architects who designed the building and is based on an 1891 decision by Chief Justice Melville Fuller.

Only the nine justices are allowed in the room during private conferences.

Members of the public can line up to enter the court and watch oral arguments on a first-come, first-served basis.

Three presidents did not have an opportunity to appoint a justice because their terms were shortened by death. Only Jimmy Carter served a full term as president without making an appointment.

Sandra Day O'Connor served from 1981 until she retired in 2006.

The Senate must approve the nomination by a simple majority.

The process of a police officer "reading you your rights" when you're arrested stems from the Miranda case. "You have a right to remain silent," and so on is often known as Miranda rights.

Six judges must be present, although absent judges can later listen to recordings of the oral arguments and contribute to the decision.

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) affirmed that same-sex marriage is protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Citizens United severely undermined campaign finance laws.

The Supreme Court has direct jurisdiction over state vs. state and U.S. vs. state cases.

The statue of Marshall formerly stood on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol but was moved into the Supreme Court in 1981.

The majority opinion explains not just what the court decided, but the reasoning behind it, allowing lower courts to base subsequent decisions on that reasoning.

The process of each justice issuing his own opinion (there were only male justices at the time) was known as seriatim.

The lower court's decision is affirmed without creating a legal precedent, similar to if the Supreme Court hadn't made any decision at all.

The Supreme Court is part of the Judicial Branch.

Brown v. Board of Education ruled that "separate but equal" was no longer an acceptable legal standard.