The Supreme Court is one of the three branches of the U.S. government, the others being the legislative and executive. Nine justices sit on the court and hear cases that have made it up to their level. The court reserves the right to decide whether or not to hear a case.
The Supreme Court also decides if actions taken by the federal and state governments are constitutional or not. The court seemed to lose some authority after the Dredd Scott decision. The ruling was that it was not in the powers of the Supreme Court to outlaw slavery. After the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was added to the constitution, to give everyone equal protection under the law including former slaves.
The Supreme Court gets about 7000 requests per year, but they only hear about one hundred. Many of the cases the court hears are from those that want their case heard after they felt that the ruling of a lesser court was incorrect.
What I believe is most interesting about the Supreme Court is how the video mentioned that the justices do not go into work trying to push an agenda like congress, but they wait for a case to come to their door and must preside over the evidence and make a decision. This does not mean that the justices are unbiased, though. Everybody has their personal views whether it be liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between. I believe that perhaps adding more justices to the court could potentially allow for a broader spectrum of insights and opinions to the cases that are brought to them.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8qSuWxcG8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo&feature=youtu.be
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