The Supreme Court has grown in many ways since it was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. For starters, the Court began with six justices (one chief justice and five associate justices), but the number has fluctuated over the years. At one point, the Court increased to ten members, but in 1866, Congress reduced the number to seven, denying President Andrew Johnson any appointments. Since 1869, however, the Court has remained at nine members, including one chief justice. President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to expand the Court to as many as 15 justices, but to no avail.
Another way the Court has expanded since its founding is not through its physical size but through its power. The Supreme Court is well known today for cases in which it interprets the Constitution and strikes down laws that conflict with it. This wasn’t always the case. The Constitution did not give the Supreme Court this much authority; the Court created that power itself in Marbury v. Madison (1803), the first case in which it invalidated a law passed by Congress. In Marbury, Chief Justice John Marshall transformed the Supreme Court into a co-equal branch of government by establishing the principle of “judicial review,” giving the Court the ultimate authority to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional.
The Marshall Court also expanded federal power during McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), affirming broad congressional authority under the Necessary and Proper Clause. The Court ruled that Congress has implied powers to carry out its duties, giving the federal government room to grow and adapt.
The Judiciary Act of 1925 expanded the Court’s appellate jurisdiction, giving it greater control over which cases to hear, a big change from being required to hear nearly every case appealed to it. With this discretionary power, the Court has been able to focus more on major constitutional and legal questions rather than routine appeals.
Over the years, especially since the 20th century, the Court has increasingly weighed in on cases the Founders probably never intended it to address, such as civil rights, abortion, and campaign finance, often putting the Court in the center of national policy debates. Its expansion of power has dramatically affected national politics and the nation, which is a big reason why nominations for Supreme Court justices are so significant.
