US Supreme Court Trivia Quiz Questions With Answers
What is the United States Supreme Court?
A: The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in
the federal judiciary of the United States.
Who is the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
A: John Roberts
Who are the current associate justices?
A: Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena
Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett
Established by which Article of the United States
Constitution?
A: Article Three.
The composition and procedures of the Supreme Court
were initially established by whom?
A: The 1st Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1789.
As later set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, the court
consists of the chief justice of the United States and how many associate
justices?
A: Eight.
Each justice has lifetime tenure, meaning what?
A: That they remain on the court until they die, retire, resign, or are
removed from office.
What happens when a vacancy occurs?
A: The president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints a new
justice.
Each justice has a single “what” in deciding the cases
argued before the court.?
A: Vote.
When in majority, the chief justice decides what?
A: Who writes the opinion of the court; otherwise, the most senior justice
in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion.
Where does the court meet?
A: The court meets in the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C.
Its law enforcement arm is what?
A: The Supreme Court Police.
The Court lacked its own building until what year?
A: 1935; from 1791 to 1801, it met in Philadelphia's City Hall.
The 1st United States Congress provided the detailed
organization of a federal judiciary through what?
A: The Judiciary Act of 1789.
The Supreme Court was to sit where?
A: In the nation's Capital and would initially be composed of a chief
justice and five associate justices.
The act also divided the country into what?
A: Judicial districts, which were in turn organized into circuits.
Justices were required to "ride circuit" and do what
twice a year in their assigned judicial district?
A: hold circuit court.
Immediately after signing the act into law, President
George Washington nominated who to serve on the court?
A: John Jay for chief justice and John Rutledge, William Cushing, Robert H.
Harrison, James Wilson, and John Blair Jr. as associate justices.
All six were confirmed by the Senate on what date?
A: September 26, 1789.
Harrison declined to serve, and Washington later
nominated whom in his place?
A: James Iredell.
Where did the Supreme Court hold its inaugural session
from February 2 through February 10, 1790?
A: At the Royal Exchange in New York City, then the U.S. capital.
The earliest sessions of the court were devoted to
what?
A: Organizational proceedings, as the first cases did not reach it until
1791.
Under Chief Justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth
(1789–1801), what was the courts first decision?
A: It was West v. Barnes (1791), a case involving procedure.
The court initially had only six members so every
decision that it made by a majority was also made by what?
A: Two-thirds (voting four to two).
Congress has always allowed less than the court's full
membership to do what?
A: To make decisions, starting with a quorum of four justices in 1789.
When did the court's power and prestige grow
substantially?
A: During the Marshall Court (1801–1835).
Under Marshall, the court established the power of
judicial review over what?
A: Acts of Congress.