The U.S. Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the
country. The president of the United States, with the support or
confirmation of the U.S. Senate, appoints its judges for life
terms. Although presidents can appoint judges that reflect their
agendas, presidents serve no more than eight years. Federal
Supreme Court judges may be on the bench until they retire, are
impeached or until they die. This creates a potential imbalance
of political thought, as there is just one chief justice and
eight associate justices. Only federal statute can change that
number of justices. U.S. Supreme Court decisions cannot be
rendered according to personal bias of political thought.
Decisions can only be rendered according to the U.S.
Constitution and its precedent-setting case decisions–such as
Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education–the latter
directly affected by the former Supreme Court decision. Self-
Incrimination: Miranda v. Arizona Ernesto Miranda, accused of
rape, was arrested and taken to a Phoenix, A