The United States Supreme Court
"Equal Justice Under Law."
The United States Supreme Court is the Judiciary Branch outlined in the U.S. Constitution. The founding fathers, however, left the origanization and general creation of this federal branch up to Congress. So it was that in the Judiciary Act of 1789 that the nation's highest court, the Supreme Court was passed into law.
Today, there are 9 justices in the Court 8 Associate Justices and the Chief Justice who are appointed by the President and approved by Congress. The first Chief Justice was John Jay with 5 Associate Justices: John Blair, William Cushing, James Wilson, James Iredell, and John Rutledge (Originally, the Justices wore powdered wigs, but Cushing was mocked and refused to wear them, so the practice ended). The Court is required by law to meet 2 times per year, and it did in a crowed courtroom in New York City for the first time in 1791 with little or nothing going on at all for the first few years.
The Judiciary Act among other things, required the Justices to take 2 trips around the nation's circuit courts. This was designed to keep the Supreme Court aware of the nation's laws, and general condition. However, rides in stagecoaches along bumpy country roads and long hours on the road proved too much for Chief Justice Jay who almost resigned until Congress shortened it to 1 trip a year in 1793.
Today, one of the most important buildings in Washington, D.C. is the Supreme Court carved with the words that are a part of this writeup's title, "Equal Justice Under Law." However, it is amazing to note that this was not completed until 1935. For the last 200 or so years, the Supreme Court held session in whatever avaliable space. Just prior to finally getting a home, it used to meet in empty Capitol offices.
The Supreme Court is in important and unremoval part of the United States' governement's idea of checks and balances. Although its descisions may not get the vote of the general public, or the president (FDR: Packing the Supreme Court), it's not supposed to. It's there to give interpretations of the Constitution, a job it does fairly well.
The 9 Justices of the United States Supreme Court as of November 2005
Chief Justice
Associate Justices
Sources
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/
http://www.supremecourthistory.org/