Final answer:
The Supreme Court hears fewer than one hundred cases per year, representing less than 2 percent of the up to ten thousand cases it is petitioned to review. The Court's decisions set legal precedents with far-reaching implications. The inner workings of the Court and most of its decisions, however, don't receive extensive public attention.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Supreme Court hears a relatively small number of cases each year compared to the thousands that are submitted for review. During its annual session, which starts on the first Monday in October and concludes in late June, the Court typically accepts fewer than 2 percent of the up to ten thousand cases petitioned. In practice, this means the Supreme Court tends to hear fewer than one hundred cases annually. Each session involves rigorous processes including oral arguments, conferences, and writing opinions that set precedents for future legal rulings.
Although the Supreme Court's decisions garner intense scrutiny and discussion, especially in landmark rulings like the 2015 decision on same-sex marriage, the inner workings and the majority of the Court's decisions are often not in the public spotlight. The average number of state and local laws the Supreme Court invalidates per decade is 122, although this number has fluctuated over the years. These decisions by the nine justices of the Court, including one chief justice and eight associate justices, have a binding effect across the United States and set precedent for all other courts.