The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal judiciary court in the country, and all courts nationwide must abide by their decisions, though this does not mean the decisions made cannot be overturned.
Lynda Wray Black, a professor of law at the University of Memphis, said, there is no higher power of law in the U.S. than the Supreme Court.
“The Supreme Court is the highest court, so their rulings are known as the law of the land,” Black said.
The Supreme Court is made up of one chief justice and eight associate justices, and each justice is appointed for life by the President. The court was established in Washington, D.C., in 1789, and they hear between 100-150 cases each year.
Every few years, the Supreme Court make a decision in a case that drastically progresses society. In 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously decided racial segregation was unconstitutional. This was a milestone in the Civil Rights Movement, known as “Brown v. Board of Education.” In 1973, the Supreme Court allowed women the right to legalized abortion within the first two trimesters of pregnancy, in the “Roe v. Wade” case. The most recent decision that had a national impact was in 2015 when a case known as “Obergefell v. Hodges,” legalized same-sex marriage throughout all 50 states.
The most common way of overturning a court decision is if the Supreme Court decides a past decision was wrong. If new, meaningful information surfaces or societal values change, Supreme Court decisions may have to change as well. Black also said the Supreme Court adheres to “stare decisis,” meaning they follow the decision that was set by a precedent case and will only overturn a decision if they find that their reasoning was incorrect.
“The Supreme Court views ‘stare decisis’ as a strong concept, and they stand by it,” Black said. “They stick with the legal precedent.”
Black said though the Supreme Court can overturn a decision, it happens after a long period of time has passed, and during this time, facts, culture, societal norms and expectations change, and new judges take seats on the panel. Black said the Supreme Court will overturn about one case per year, and the justices tend to view their past decisions as rulings that must be followed.
Nikki Pladziewicz, a graduate student at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, said the Supreme Court rarely uses their power to overturn decisions.
“Courts strictly follow the doctrine of ‘stare decisis,’ which means ‘let the decision stand’ in Latin,” Pladziewicz said. “The courts also follow precedent. The courts must follow decisions of the past.”
Pladziewicz also said overturned decisions are usually the result of changes in culture. Sometimes they make decisions based on the Constitution, but the Constitution may be amended.
If the Supreme Court makes a decision based on a constitutional right that has been amended, the decision may need to be overturned. “Brown v. Board of Education” overturned the “Plessy v. Ferguson” case from 1896 that upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal” as lawful.
“There is a possibility of overturning decisions, but it is rare,” Pladziewicz said. “Overturned opinions are typically due to cultural shifts.”
