Q 01/05

How many justices sit on the Supreme Court of the United States?

A) Nine

B) Seven

C) Eleven

D) Twelve

Answer · why

A) Nine

The number has been fixed by statute since 1869; the Court receives about 7,000 petitions a year and hears around 80.

Q 02/05

Which 1803 case established the US Supreme Court's power of judicial review?

A) McCulloch v. Maryland

B) Marbury v. Madison

C) Gibbons v. Ogden

D) Fletcher v. Peck

Answer · why

B) Marbury v. Madison

Chief Justice John Marshall used a dispute over an undelivered commission to claim the most important power the Court has.

Q 03/05

Who was the first Chief Justice of the United States, nominated by George Washington in 1789?

A) John Marshall

B) John Rutledge

C) John Jay

D) Oliver Ellsworth

Answer · why

C) John Jay

The Senate confirmed him on 26 September 1789, two days after the Judiciary Act created the Court.

Q 04/05

Who became the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court in 1981?

A) Ruth Bader Ginsburg

B) Sonia Sotomayor

C) Elena Kagan

D) Sandra Day O'Connor

Answer · why

D) Sandra Day O'Connor

Reagan had promised during his campaign to appoint a woman, and the Senate confirmed her 99 to 0.

Q 05/05

How many of his 32 Supreme Court civil rights cases did NAACP lawyer Thurgood Marshall win?

A) 29

B) 32

C) 25

D) 20

Answer · why

A) 29

The biggest was Brown v. Board of Education; he was the Court's first African American justice and served until 1991.