This court was established in 1789 by Article three of the United States constitution with the Judiciary Act of 1789 being signed by President George Washington. This Act stated that 6 justices would serve on the court until their death or their retirement. The court had originally set to assemble on February 1, 1790 in New York City at the Merchants Exchange Building but ended up having to be postponed to the next day.
The courts early meetings did not have any hearings, but were just as important to smooth organizational pieces. SCOTUS had its first hearing and decision on August 3, 1791 with case West v Barnes. The wearisome, financial case between a farmer and family he owed money too, had reached a decision after just one day.
Some of the most influential court cases have been:
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which did not allow African-Americans who were slaves to become citizens
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896),which continued state segregation laws
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), which provided lawyers to people who couldn't afford them
"Mapp v. Ohio (1961), which held that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in criminal cases
Texas v. Johnson (1989), which found that flag burning and other potentially offensive speech is protected by the First Amendment
Roe v. Wade (1973), which ruled that women have a right to an abortion during the first two trimesters
U.S. v. Nixon (1974), which found that the President cannot use his or her power to withhold evidence in criminal trials
Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which struck down state anti-sodomy laws
United States v. Windsor (2013), which revoked the U.S. government’s ability to deny federal benefits to same-sex couples
Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), which legalized same-sex marriage across all 50 states" (History.com)
The Supreme Court justices are decided by the President of the United States and confirmed or denied by the United States Congress. The first Supreme Court was made up of Chief Justice John Jay, and Associate Justices John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson. The number of Supreme Court justices ranged between 5 and 10 throughout its first years and eventually settled on 9 in 1869 which still remains today.
Source: https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts
