This study, consisting of two discrete parts, will explore the creation, jurisdiction and practices of the United States Supreme Court. Part I of the article [“A Primer on the United States Supreme Court: An Indispensible Party in Creating a Legal Cannon”] will discuss issues relating to the important “Rule of Four,” by which the Supreme Court controls its docket, issues relating to the adjudication of “political questions,” provides judicial biographies of the Justices of the Court from the website of the Court itself, and discusses the various judicial philosophies which guide individual judges in their determination—including a commentary on the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts.Part II [“A Discussion of Major Supreme Court Cases from the Spring 2022 Term”] will discuss and summarize the decisions of the Court in important cases, termed the “Big Five,” dealing with abortion, hand-guns and the Second Amendment, religious liberty, immigration, and the reaches of administrative law as these are delivered by the Supreme Court during the Spring of 2022.
Keywords: United States Supreme Court; jurisdiction; “Rule of Five”; political questions; judicial restraint