АҚШ Жоғарғы Соты бейнелеу өнерінде және әдебиетте

Like many institutions that draw public interest, the Supreme Court of the United States has frequently been depicted in fiction, often in the form of legal drama. While early depictions of the Supreme Court in fiction tended to be reverential, over time depictions became more critical and melodramatic. In some instances, real decisions rendered by real courts are dramatized, as in Gideon's Trumpet and the seminal trial in The People vs. Larry Flynt. Other depictions are purely fictional, but center on realistic issues that come before the court. Despite the comparative dearth of material on the Supreme Court in popular culture as compared to other branches of government, such depictions are "the primary source of the public's knowledge about the legal system as a whole, including the Supreme Court".

Court centered fiction has been distinctively more successful in some media than others. For example, author Anthony Franze explained in an essay in The Strand the allure of writing fictional novels set in the Supreme Court, noting that as a location it has "an air of mystery", as well as interesting characters, a unique language, history, and tradition, and that it provides "a backdrop of unparalleled stakes". On the other hand, television series centered on dramatizing the happenings of the court have proven to be short lived, and have tended to receive overall negative critical reaction.

Unlike novels and films presenting accounts of the Supreme Court, television series focusing on it as a subject have failed to gain an audience, and have consequently been short lived. Two television series presenting fictionalized versions of the Supreme Court debuted in 2002, First Monday and The Court. First Monday starred Joe Mantegna and James Garner, with Mantegna portraying a fictional Joseph Novelli, a moderate and potential swing vote recently appointed to a Supreme Court evenly divided between conservatives and liberals. Garner was the conservative Chief Justice. The Court was cancelled after three episodes, with several more produced but never aired. Both series, aired in the wake of the controversial 2000 Bush v. Gore decision, portrayed the court as divided between camps of differing political ideologies, and shaken up by a newly appointed justice at the center.

More successful fictional depictions of the Supreme Court have occurred as individual episodes of more acclaimed TV series, with appearances and storylines tailored to the tenor of the series. In courtroom drama series, this is typically in the form of cases culminating in arguments before the court. In political drama series, plotlines have tended to focus more on the appointment of justices as a political exercise, and on machinations involving the personal lives and predilictions of justices or nominees.

In Boston Legal, Alan Shore and Denny Crane argue two cases before the Supreme Court during the series. In "The Court Supreme", Shore argues for overturning the death penalty sentence of a mentally handicapped man convicted of raping a young girl, which was based heavily on the 2008 case Kennedy v. Louisiana. In the series finale "Last Call", Shore returns to the Court to argue for Crane being allowed access to an experimental drug for Alzheimer's disease.

In the political thriller drama Designated Survivor, the majority of the Supreme Court is killed when the United States Capitol is destroyed in a terror attack in the pilot episode. In the episode The Ninth Seat (S01E17), President Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) faces struggles when appointing the ninth and final member of the new Supreme Court, and elects to temporarily keep the Court at an even 8 member capacity. In the episode Run (S02E22) Chief Justice Peter Koeman (Keith Dinicol) warns President Kirkman to not have his staff try and influence court decisions.

In House of Cards (Season 3), President Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) is approached by Associate Justice Robert Jacobs (Jonathan Hogan) who requests he be allowed to retire due to having started to develop alzheimers. However, Underwood expresses his desire for Jacobs to remain on the court until he has passed groundbreaking job creation legislation. Underwood later tries to discourage his political rival, Solicitor General Heather Dunbar (Elizabeth Marvel) from running against him by offering her Jacob's place on the court, but she announces her candidacy before he can formally nominate her. Another named member of the court is Associate Justice Moretti (Kris Andrews). The court is shown to be composed of three women and six men, two of whom are African American.

How to Get Away with Murder (Season 4) features a Supreme Court session in episode 13, in which the protagonist, Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), brings a class action suit against the Federal Government for not providing effective public legal counsel, thus violating the 6th Amendment. This episode is also part of the crossover event between the same universe TV show Scandal, and also features Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington). The court is composed of Chief Justice Peter Montgomery (Jesse D. Goins), Associate Justice Mark Spivey (Tom Irwin), Associate Justice Helen Bass (Cathy Ladman), Associate Justice Alberto Gutierrez (Ruben Pla), Associate Justice Strickland (Denis Arndt) and two other unnamed justices.

Madam Secretary (Seasons 2, 3 and 4) features occasional appearances of Chief Justice Wilbourne (Morgan Freeman), a close friend of Secretary of State Elizabeth McCord (Tea Leoni). Freeman also serves as an executive producer for the show. The name is retconned, with Freeman being credited as "Chief Justice Frowley" in his first appearance.

In the Picket Fences episode "May It Please the Court", broadcast on 18 November 1994, defense attorney Douglas Wambaugh (played by Fyvush Finkel) and District Attorney John Littleton (played by Don Cheadle) engaged in oral arguments before the Court (with actors playing the real justices); Supreme Court oral argument veteran Alan Dershowitz guest starred as himself, advising Wambaugh on strategy for addressing the Court. The case dealt with the admissibility of a murderer's confession.

Political Animals (2012 miniseries) features Associate Justice Diane Nash (Vanessa Redgrave), the first openly gay member of the court. She serves as a friend and mentor to Secretary of State Elaine Barrish (Sigourney Weaver).

In season two of the suspense sci fi drama series Savlation, there is a politically related Supreme Court subplot. After the brief incapacitation and later reinstatement of President Pauline Mackenzie (Tovah Feldshuh), Vice President Monroe Bennett (Sasha Roiz), who previously served as Acting President, argues his power was illegally revoked and submits a claim at the Supreme Court. The court is split 4 4 when a suicide bomber attacks the United States Supreme Court Building, incapacitating Chief Justice Martin Cheng (Hiro Kanagawa), the remaining swing vote. Cheng later recovers, and casts his vote 5 4 in favour of Mackenzie. Another named judge is Associate Justice Praeger (Corina Akeson).

The series Scandal (Season 2) features Associate Justice Verna Thornton (Debra Mooney) as a primary antagonist for the first half of the second season. Aware that President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III (Tony Goldwyn) ascended to the presidency through voter fraud in Defiance County, Ohio she attempted to have him assassinated. Suffering with terminal cancer, she was pressured by Vice President Sally Langston (Kate Burton) to give up her seat, which she refused. She is eventually suffocated in hospital by President Grant so she cannot reveal the truth about his election, with her death being made to look like the result of the cancer.

The drama series Shooter (based on the 2007 film of the same name) contains a Supreme Court related subplot in Season 3. A secretive government cabal named Atlas pushes for Judge Ray Brooks (Michael O'Neill) to be appointed the next Chief Justice, as they can manipulate him to be their swing vote with evidence of war crimes he committed whilst serving in the Vietnam War. When the conspiracy is discovered, several members of the court are targeted, including Associate Justice Gibson (Rhea Perlman) and Associate Justice Romero Dominguez (Castulo Guerra).

In the 1995 Syfy science fiction revival series The Outer Limits, the episode Final Appeal (S06E021) focuses on the Supreme Court in the year 2076. They are hearing the final appeal of the conviction of Dr. Theresa Evans (Amanda Plummer), a time traveller for whom the death penalty is sought for bringing advanced technology into the world after such technology has been banished. In this future setting, there are only 5 justices: Chief Justice Haden Wainwright (Charlton Heston), Associate Justice Earl Clayton (Robert Loggia), Associate Justice Gretchen Parkhurst (Cicely Tyson), Associate Justice Kendall Woods (Swoosie Kurtz) and Associate Justice Oliver Harbinson (Hal Holbrook). The court ultimately votes 3 2 to acquit Evans.

The West Wing involved frequent discussions or depictions of fictional past and present Supreme Court justices. Two episodes ("The Short List" in 1999, and "Celestial Navigation" in 2000) center on the nomination of "Roberto Mendoza," played by Edward James Olmos, as the first Hispanic Justice. At the opening of the episode "Celestial Navigation", Mendoza has been arrested for drunk driving and resisting arrest. Sam Seaborn stresses that Mendoza doesn't drink alcohol, telling C. J. Cregg that Mendoza was arrested for "driving while being Hispanic". The sergeant on duty tells Sam that Mendoza's driving was faulty, and that he wasn't sure that Mendoza hadn't been drinking alcohol. Sam responds by informing the officers that Mendoza has a chronic illness that would render any significant drinking fatal. Mendoza expresses frustration at how he'd been treated by the police, having been searched and handcuffed in front of his wife and nine year old son. Mendoza vowed to use the criminal justice system to acquit himself, instead of letting the White House get him out, but is persuaded that he could make a much bigger difference on the Supreme Court, and that he would be unable to be confirmed by the U. S. Senate if the story circulates. Mendoza agrees to be released and the officers' apologize to Mendoza and to his son, with the incident remaining off the record. Writing for the Daily Bruin, Alex Driscoll praised the focus on Mendoza's being racially profiled. Driscoll writes that while Mendoza was released quietly and quickly, many cases of a victim being racially profiled do not have the same outcome. She praises Sorkin for providing attention to the point that race can matter more than guilt or innocence in determining how a suspect is treated by police, and notes that most suspects in this case will not have powerful members of the U. S. government to bail them out, that forms of protest similar to Mendoza's refusing of a breathalyzer test have spread across the United States. A third episode, "The Supremes" in 2004, dealt with the issue of preserving ideological balance on the Court. The President makes a deal with the Republican Congress to simultaneously appoint a very liberal judge "Evelyn Baker Lang" (played by Glenn Close) as the Court's first female Chief Justice, and a very conservative judge, "Christopher Mulready" (played by William Fichtner) as an Associate Justice. The 2000 episode "Take This Sabbath Day" also opened with a scene depicting the Court's main chamber.

The comedy series Veep (Season 6) sees former President Stuart Hughes nominated to a vacant position on the Supreme Court by President Laura Montez (Andrea Savage) after the death of Associate Justice Tenny. Hughes becomes the second person after William Howard Taft to serve as both President and as a Supreme Court justice.

In the post apocalyptic drama series Y: The Last Man, based on the comic book series of the same name, a mysterious cataclysmic event simultaneously kills every mammal with a Y chromosome. As a result, the judiciary is decimated, with the only surviving members of the Supreme Court being Associate Justice Nadine Gwyther, Associate Justice Dina Corrette and Associate Justice Oriana Landrith. It is implied that two surviving female Circuit Court Judges, Margaret Waldrie and Sondra Ongata, are promoted to partially fill the gaps caused by the death of male justices.