What makes the Supreme Court justices so powerful? Identify and explain at least two factors that lead to the great influence of the Court. What are the limitations of the Supreme Court? Identify and explain at least two limits on the power of the Court.

The U.S. Constitution enumerates many powers in our representative system of government. For example, Article III of the U.S. Constitution grants the Supreme Court of the United States its judicial power. Article III, §1 states, “the judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." Without this provision, the Supreme Court justices would not exist.
Nonetheless, the justices are very powerful. One reason is because they can serve for life. They have no term limits on their length of service on the Court. Unlike members of Congress and state government officials, the justices can influence the interpretation of the laws of the United States for decades before finally retiring.
A second reason is because those interpretations shape rulings that form the bedrock of our principles for generations, long after the justices retire. Justices are usually reluctant to overturn established law due to respect for precedents. Precedential cases provide consistency and predictability in the legal system. So the justices’ opinions can leave behind a legacy of jurisprudence.
Another reason the justices are very powerful is because of their own ruling in the landmark case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). Chief Justice John Marshall issued the majority opinion for this case, which established the power of judicial review. Although it is not an enumerated power in the Constitution, Chief Justice Marshall used the case as an opportunity to declare that “a legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law” and that “it is emphatically the province and the duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” The opinion greatly expanded the powers of the Supreme Court.
A fourth reason the justices are so powerful is because their decisions are the supreme law of the land. Their rulings cannot be overturned in a lower court of appeal or district court. Also, the justices’ opinions apply to state governmental decision-making, too, on issues of federal matters. So the reach of their rulings is far and wide.
However, in our system of checks and balances, no branch of government has unlimited power, and that applies to the judicial branch. One limit on the justices’ power is the threat of impeachment and removal. Although it rarely occurs, it is a possibility. Another more common limit is Congress’s power to legislative overrule a decision of the Supreme Court. Additionally, Congress may alter the number of members who serve on the Court, but this has remained unchanged at nine seats for over a century. The main concern is judicial tyranny, the danger of which is significantly reduced by these limits on judicial power.

The Constitution’s separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government is based largely upon John Adams’s essay "Thoughts on Government," published in 1776. Rather than centralizing power in a single branch, which could become tyrannical, each branch uses a system of checks and balances to limit the extent of the others. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the judicial branch, and its power rests on its ability to influence the executive and legislative branches through judicial review of constitutionality. Laws and executive orders can be invalidated by the Supreme Court if they are deemed unconstitutional.
Supreme Court justices hold their offices during good behavior, which means they retain their position for life unless they are impeached. Impeachment has has only happened once, in 1804. While this is meant to protect the justices’ decisions from the partisan influence of the election cycle, it cannot entirely remove the role of politics from the judicial branch. Justices are seated following a partisan process, meaning a nomination by the president and appointment by the Senate. Their prior opinions, usually as federal court judges, are taken into consideration in order to choose a potential Supreme Court justice who is likely to side with the political party in power Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments, which means that their own political sympathies, as indicated through their record of liberal or conservative interpretation, can influence the laws of the United States for generations.
The executive branch chooses Supreme Court nominees, which are then appointed or rejected by the legislative branch. Legislative checks upon the judiciary are not limited to approving or disapproving nominees; Congress is also able to decide how many justices serve on the Supreme Court. The number of justices has changed multiple times: the Judiciary Act of 1789 established a Supreme Court with six justices; the Judiciary Act of 1801 limited the court to five; FDR tried to expand the number to fifteen in 1937, but failed to do so; and the number has remained nine since the Judiciary Act of 1869, leaving the number of justices odd to prevent ties. Additionally, the legislative branch can amend the Constitution to overturn judicial branch rulings of unconstitutionality, and it can impeach Supreme Court justices if they are convicted of treason, bribery, or other high crimes.