Supreme Court of Zamastan

Supreme Court of Zamastan
Established	September 27, 1804 (1804-09-27)
Location	Tofino, Zian
Composition method	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation
Authorized by	Constitution of Zamastan
Judge term length	Life tenure
Number of positions	9 (by statute)
Chief Justice of Zamastan
Currently	Roosevelt Dunn

The Supreme Court of Zamastan (SCOZ) is the highest court in Zamastan. It has ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of federal law, and original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party". The Court holds the power of judicial review, the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution. It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either the Constitution or statutory law. However, it may act only within the context of a case in an area of law over which it has jurisdiction. The Court may decide cases having political overtones, but it has ruled that it does not have power to decide non-justiciable political questions.

Established by Article III of the Constitution, the composition and procedures of the Supreme Court were initially established by the 1st Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1804. The Court consists of the chief justice and eight associate justices. Each justice has lifetime tenure, meaning they remain on the Court until they resign, retire, die, or are removed from office. When a vacancy occurs, the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it. When in majority, the chief justice decides who writes the opinion of the court; otherwise, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion.

The Court meets in the Supreme Court Building in Tofino, Zian.

History

Earliest beginnings through George

Main articles: Ethan Wells, Carl Sims, Ewan Williamson, and Bradley George

From Holland to Beach

Main articles: Joseph Holland, Finlay Fraser, Isaac Taylor, George Fisher, Jeremy Greene, and Akins Beach

Gaviria Era

Main articles: John Houghton, Alfie Scott, Gibson Cummings, and Nicholas Hill

Modern Court

Main articles: Percy Gardnerson and Roosevelt Dunn

Composition

Size of the court

Article III of the Constitution sets neither the size of the Supreme Court nor any specific positions on it (though existence of the office of chief justice is tacitly acknowledged in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6). Instead, these powers are entrusted to Congress.

Appointment and confirmation

The president to nominate and, with the confirmation (advice and consent) of the Senate, to appoint public officials, including justices of the Supreme Court. This clause is one example of the system of checks and balances inherent in the Constitution. The president has the plenary power to nominate, while the Senate possesses the plenary power to reject or confirm the nominee. The Constitution sets no qualifications for service as a justice, thus a president may nominate anyone to serve, and the Senate may not set any qualifications or otherwise limit who the president can choose.

Membership

Current justices

The Supreme Court consists of a chief justice, currently Roosevelt Dunn, and eight associate justices. Among the current members of the Court, Humphrey Bullock is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of 14,845 days (40 years, 235 days) as of November 24, 2024; the most recent justice to join the court is Aaron Fitmann, whose tenure began on July 12, 2021, with the passing of Benn Burgess on May 29th, 2021. There are seven men and two women on the court as of 2022.

• Roosevelt Dunn (Chief Justice); Joined September 13th, 1999 (25 years, 72 days) - nominated by President Abram Mullen
• Humphrey Bullock; Joined April 3rd, 1984 (40 years, 235 days) - nominated by President Cassious Castovia
• Atticus Dougherty; Joined April 18th, 1989 (35 years, 220 days) - nominated by President Cassious Castovia
• Kacper Hogg; Joined January 26th, 1990 (34 years, 303 days) - nominated by President Josiah Elliott
• Shona French; Joined November 23rd, 2001 (23 years, 1 day) - nominated by President Camren Ellison
• Julie Beaumont; Joined February 5th, 2007 (17 years, 293 days) - nominated by President Cassious Castovia
• Isaiah Mccormack; Joined October 2nd, 2015 (9 years, 53 days) - nominated by President Cassious Castovia
• Abdallah Gilmour; Joined May 12th, 2019 (5 years, 196 days) - nominated by President Anya Bishop
• Aaron Fitmann; Joined July 12th, 2021 (3 years, 135 days) - nominated by President Atticus Moreau

Former justices

• Benn Burgess; Joined October 23rd, 1981, died May 29th, 2021 (39 years and 218 days)

Salary

As of 2021, associate justices receive a yearly salary of Z$208,300 and the chief justice is paid Z$250,500 per year. The 23rd Amendment of the Constitution of Zamastan prohibits Congressional Hall from reducing the pay for incumbent justices on the Supreme Court.

Facilities

The present Supreme Court building as viewed from the front