FREE ESSAY ON SUPREME COURT

SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court has had many different places where it was located over the years. There
has been a struggle to find a permanent home for the most powerful court of law. At
first, the meetings were in the Merchant Exchange Building in New York City. The court
then followed the nation's capitol to Philadelphia in 1790. In 1800 the court again
relocated to Washington DC. At first they spent their time meeting in various places. The
place to find the Supreme Court now is in Washington DC, on First Street located in
Northeast. 
The Supreme court was created during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 during which
the delegates discussed the necessity of a Supreme Court. The two major reasons for the
need of this type of court was going to be to settle the conflicts that may arise between
states, and the fact that there would be a court that would have to maintain the
uniformity of the federal law. Article III vested the judicial power in "one Supreme
Court" , and such inferior courts as the Congress may form from time to time…" 
The Supreme Court of the United States has several different types of cases which they
generally hear. The first of these are controversies in which the United States is a
party. Another categories of cases are ones in which there is a conflict between
different states, as well as cases in which the parties involved are from different
states. The federal question jurisdiction includes cases that are under the Constitution
or federal statutes and or treaties. Cases that involve admiralty and maritime law are
also heard by the Supreme Court. This court is considered to be the final arbitrator
between the assertion of power and the restrictions on power derived from a written
constitution. The Supreme Court also has appellate jurisdiction, which means the cases
that are appealed from a lower court with an issue that concerns with the federal law or
the Constitution.
Not all cases get heard by the Supreme Court. A case can either go through the federal or
the state court system, the case comes to the Supreme Court. There are four different
ways to reach the Supreme Court. It can be through a petition for an extraordinary writ.
There is also a request for certification. A case can also be heard through an appeal, or
a petition for a writ of certiorari. 
The Supreme Court has nine judges, which serve. These judges assess cases. These Justices
hold their terms for life, "during good behavior" under Article III. The current Supreme
Court Justices are Justice John Paul Stevens, appointed by Gerald Ford in 1975. Ronald
Regan appointed Justice Sandra Day O'Conner to her term in 1981. Justice Antonia Scalia
was appointed by Ronald Regan in 1986. Another Justice appointed by Ronald Regan is
Anthony Kennedy in 1988. George Bush appointed Justice David Souter in 1990. Justice
Clarence Thomas was appointed by George Bush in 1991. Bill Clinton appointed Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg in 1993. Bill Clinton also appointed Justice Stephen Breyer in 1994. The
Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court is Chief Justice William Rehnquist who
was appointed Justice by President Richard Nixon in 1972 and earned his appointment to
being Chief Justice by Ronald Regan in 1986. 
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case concerning whether electrocution amounts
to cruel and unusual punishment. They are using a case that was started in Florida. 
This decision comes four months after the third botched electrocution in Florida this
decade. It shut down the use of Florida's electric chair, granting open-ended reprieves
to a man scheduled to die recently and another a few days ago. The issue may not be
resolved by the high court for months. 
Attorneys for death row inmates have tried unsuccessfully in state courts to prove that
death in the electric chair violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual
punishment. 
Florida is one of just four states across the country that requires condemned killers to
be executed by electrocution. Most of the 38 states with capital punishment have switched
to lethal injection in the last 50 years, when a peak of 26 states used electric chairs.
But the U.S. Supreme Court has not reviewed electrocution as a method of execution since
1890, when New York became the first state to approve its use. Now the issue is one that
is in conflict among states. 
The last man to die in Florida's electric chair was Allen Lee Davis also known as "Tiny."
His execution in July for the 1982 murders of a pregnant woman and her two young
daughters led to the legal challenge before the high court. He suffered a nosebleed just
before the current of electrocution was applied. This caused blood to drip from his face
mask and onto his chest as he died. Davis may also have been partially suffocated before
he was electrocuted because of the placement of a leather mouthpiece across his face.
This does not seem to be a normal way to punish a criminal, and thus becomes an argument
for debate and discussion. 
The bloody execution followed problems in 1990 and 1997, when flames erupted from the
headpiece worn by condemned Florida killers. This is not only wrong but should not be
continued to go on. 
Pictures of Davis' bloody body and contorted face are before the nation's high after
Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw attached three photographs to his blistering
dissent of the state court's 4-3 ruling upholding use of the chair last month. 
The decision came less than an hour after the state Supreme Court granted Anthony Bryan a
two-day stay to pursue federal appeals. Bryan was scheduled to go to the electric chair
at 7 a.m. recently for the 1983 murder of a watchman abducted in Mississippi. 
Bryan's lawyer, Andrew Thomas, called the decision monumental. Gov. Jeb Bush was
surprised and disappointed with the decision Florida House Speaker John Thrasher said he
found the court's decision terribly frustrating." This case is being heard by the Supreme
Court and will be one, which will set a trend and a standard among the states with
regards to the punishment of convicts. It will decide and define cruel and unusual
punishment with regard to individuals convicted of crimes and sentenced to certain
punishments.