Supreme Court Opinions - Essay Example

 The principal responsibility of the U.S. Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution. It has the final say in settling legal arguments and determining the meaning of laws thereby setting national policy. The Justices write majority and minority opinions following a decision. These fall into four categories, unanimous, divided, very divided, and per curium. Unanimous decisions are written when all nine members of the court vote the same way. The Chief Justice (John Roberts) assigns any Justice the task of writing it or may choose himself.

Sometimes, if the case has many nuances involved, he may have opinions from two Justices. In this case, the opinions are called concurring. Divided decisions are more common. If from one to four Justices dissent on the majority decision, the Chief Justice will assign a majority opinion that speaks for the consensus of the Court. In addition, a minority opinion will be assigned to one of the Justices who voted against the majority, termed the dissenting opinion. This Justice explains the reason they and possibly other dissenters saw legal reason to vote against the majority.

In a very divided decision, those Justices who voted with the majority did not agree as to why.