Creation

• Article 3, Section 1 of the United States Constitution creates the Supreme Court.
  
  

Lifetime Appointment

• Supreme Court justices are appointed for life by the president (if their appointment is approved by the Senate) under the assumption of "good behavior."
  
  

Number

• There are nine Supreme Court justices. This number is not set by the Constitution, but has been established through legislation and can be changed. Franklin D. Roosevelt tried, but failed, to change the number of justices in the 1930s.
  
  

Jurisdiction

• Article 3, Section 2 of the Constitution establishes that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over any case involving the federal government. Otherwise, Supreme Court justices hear cases that have been appealed from lower courts.
  
  

Meeting

• Supreme Court justices meet on the first Monday of October and hear cases until about June. They hear more than 5,000 cases, though the majority are thrown out because they are not of sufficient importance to be heard by the Supreme Court.