Is There a Constitutional Court in the United States?

Is There a Constitutional Court in the United States?

No. The United States does not have a separate constitutional court in the traditional sense.

Instead, constitutional review is integrated into the ordinary judicial system. Federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, can decide constitutional questions when those questions arise in cases properly before them.

This is one of the most important characteristics of the American judicial system.

In many countries, constitutional review is concentrated in a specialized institution commonly called a constitutional court. Such a court may exist separately from the ordinary courts and may have jurisdiction specifically devoted to constitutional questions.

The United States follows a different model.

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the federal judiciary and has enormous authority over constitutional questions. However, it is not a separate constitutional court detached from the ordinary judicial system. It is a general federal court with constitutional jurisdiction among its other responsibilities.

Similarly, federal district courts and federal courts of appeals can decide constitutional questions when those questions arise within cases falling within their jurisdiction.

The Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute’s Wex materials on judicial review provide useful background for understanding how constitutional review operates through the American judiciary.

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1. The Short Answer: No Separate Constitutional Court Exists

The clearest answer is:

The United States has no separate court whose exclusive or principal institutional identity is that of a constitutional court.

Instead, constitutional adjudication is distributed throughout the judicial system.

A federal district court may decide whether a federal statute violates the Constitution.

A federal court of appeals may review that constitutional determination.

The Supreme Court may ultimately review the case.

State courts may also decide questions arising under the U.S. Constitution, as well as questions under their own state constitutions.

Therefore, constitutional adjudication is not confined to one specialized institution.

This is sometimes described as decentralized judicial review.

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2. Why Does the United States Not Have a Separate Constitutional Court?

The answer lies partly in the historical development of the American constitutional system.

The United States Constitution was adopted in 1787 and established a federal judiciary headed by one Supreme Court.

Article III provides that federal judicial power shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as Congress may establish.

The Constitution did not establish a separate constitutional tribunal outside the ordinary federal judiciary.

Instead, constitutional questions became part of the judicial function.

When a court must decide a case and the parties dispute whether governmental action complies with the Constitution, the court can address the constitutional issue if the legal requirements for doing so are satisfied.

This structure developed into the American system of judicial review.

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3. The Supreme Court Is Not a Separate Constitutional Court

Because the Supreme Court decides many constitutional cases, it is sometimes informally described as America’s “constitutional court.”

That description can be useful in explaining its role, but it is institutionally incomplete.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal judicial system.

Its jurisdiction is not limited to constitutional disputes.

The Court also decides cases involving:

• federal statutes;
• treaties;
• federal regulations;
• disputes between states;
• federal criminal law;
• civil rights;
• administrative law;
• bankruptcy-related questions;
• intellectual property;
• taxation;
• federal procedural law; and
• many other areas of federal law.

Some of its most important decisions involve constitutional questions, but constitutional adjudication is only one part of its judicial function.

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4. Constitutional Review Is Integrated Into Ordinary Litigation

The American system generally does not require a person to file a special proceeding exclusively asking a constitutional court to review legislation.

Instead, a constitutional question usually arises within ordinary litigation.

For example, imagine Congress enacts a federal statute restricting certain conduct.

A person is prosecuted under the statute and argues that it violates the Constitution.

The criminal case may therefore become a vehicle for resolving the constitutional question.

Similarly, a business may challenge a federal regulation and argue that the regulation exceeds statutory authority or violates the Constitution.

A state law may be challenged in an ordinary civil lawsuit.

A government employee may raise a constitutional claim in litigation concerning employment.

The constitutional question becomes part of the underlying dispute.

This is one of the defining features of the American model.

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5. Judicial Review Is Not Limited to the Supreme Court

Another important misconception is that only the Supreme Court can decide whether a law is constitutional.

That is incorrect.

Federal district courts can address constitutional questions.

Federal courts of appeals can review constitutional issues.

State courts can also decide questions arising under the U.S. Constitution when those questions are properly before them.

The Supreme Court has the final authoritative role within the federal judicial hierarchy, but it is not the only court capable of exercising constitutional review.

This distinction is crucial.

The Supreme Court is the highest court for federal constitutional interpretation, but constitutional adjudication can begin much lower in the judicial system.

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6. The Role of Federal District Courts

Federal district courts are the primary federal trial courts.

A constitutional challenge may therefore begin in a district court.

Suppose a plaintiff claims that a federal agency has violated a constitutional right.

If the plaintiff satisfies the applicable requirements for bringing the lawsuit, the district court may be required to address the constitutional issue.

The district judge may:

• interpret the Constitution;
• interpret federal statutes;
• evaluate the governmental action;
• determine whether the plaintiff has established the necessary legal elements;
• decide whether a constitutional violation occurred; and
• provide an appropriate remedy when authorized.

The district court’s decision may then be appealed.

Thus, constitutional review is integrated into ordinary federal trial litigation.

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7. The Role of Federal Courts of Appeals

Federal courts of appeals review decisions from federal district courts and, in certain circumstances, decisions of federal agencies and specialized federal tribunals.

Constitutional questions frequently reach the appellate courts.

Suppose a district court concludes that a federal statute is constitutional.

The losing party may appeal if an appeal is legally available.

The court of appeals may then reconsider the legal question.

It may:

• affirm the district court;
• reverse the district court;
• vacate the decision;
• remand for further proceedings; or
• issue another appropriate disposition.

Different federal circuits can occasionally reach different conclusions concerning the same constitutional question.

Such disagreements can produce what is known as a circuit split.

Important conflicts may eventually attract Supreme Court review.

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8. The Supreme Court as the Final Federal Appellate Authority

The Supreme Court occupies the highest position in the federal judicial hierarchy.

When the Court decides a constitutional question, its controlling holdings bind lower courts.

This gives the Supreme Court enormous importance in constitutional law.

But the institutional structure remains significant.

The Court does not function as a separate constitutional tribunal receiving every constitutional question directly from citizens.

Instead, it generally decides constitutional questions through cases that come within its jurisdiction and that the Court agrees to hear.

The Court therefore operates as the highest court within the judicial system rather than as a completely separate constitutional institution.

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9. Constitutional Questions Must Still Satisfy Judicial Requirements

The fact that a case raises an important constitutional question does not automatically give a federal court authority to decide it.

The ordinary requirements of federal judicial power still apply.

Depending on the case, the court may need to consider:

• subject-matter jurisdiction;
• standing;
• ripeness;
• mootness;
• the existence of an actual controversy;
• statutory limitations;
• applicable doctrines of justiciability; and
• the availability of an appropriate remedy.

This is one of the most important differences between having a constitutional question and having a constitutionally reviewable case.

A person can have a serious disagreement with a law and still lack standing to challenge it in federal court.

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10. The Case-or-Controversy Requirement

Article III limits federal judicial power to cases and controversies of the type contemplated by the Constitution.

This means federal courts generally do not issue abstract constitutional opinions.

Suppose a citizen asks:

“Is this proposed bill constitutional?”

If the bill has not yet become law and there is no appropriate legal controversy, a federal court generally cannot simply provide an advisory opinion.

The judiciary is designed to decide legal disputes rather than provide constitutional advice on hypothetical questions.

This requirement significantly shapes the American model of constitutional review.

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11. Constitutional Review Through an Actual Dispute

The American approach can be understood through a simple example.

Imagine that Congress passes a statute restricting certain speech.

A person is directly affected and brings a lawsuit challenging the statute under the First Amendment.

The case may proceed through the judicial system.

The trial court may consider the constitutional claim.

An appellate court may review the decision.

The Supreme Court may eventually agree to hear the case.

The constitutional issue is therefore resolved through an actual dispute between parties.

The judiciary does not need a separate constitutional proceeding simply because the case involves the Constitution.

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12. Marbury v. Madison and the American Model

The development of American judicial review is strongly associated with Marbury v. Madison (1803).

The case did not create a separate constitutional court.

Instead, the Supreme Court asserted that it was part of the judicial function to determine the governing law when a conflict existed between ordinary legislation and the Constitution.

Chief Justice John Marshall reasoned that the Constitution was superior law and that courts must apply it when deciding cases.

This helped establish the foundation for the American model:

constitutional review is exercised by ordinary courts as part of adjudication.

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13. Constitutional Review in State Courts

The American system becomes even more distinctive because state courts can also decide constitutional questions.

State courts are not merely institutions for applying state law.

They may address:

• the U.S. Constitution;
• federal statutes;
• federal constitutional rights;
• state constitutional provisions; and
• state statutes.

For example, a state trial court may confront a constitutional challenge to a state statute.

An appellate court may review the decision.

The state’s highest court may ultimately resolve the issue under the state constitution or applicable federal law.

If the case presents a federal constitutional question, the U.S. Supreme Court may, in an appropriate case, review the state court’s final judgment.

This produces a complex but interconnected constitutional judicial system.

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14. State Constitutional Courts Are Also Uncommon

The United States generally does not have separate constitutional courts at the state level either.

State supreme courts ordinarily function as the highest courts of their respective states and decide constitutional questions alongside other legal disputes.

A state supreme court may therefore determine:

• whether a state statute violates the state constitution;
• whether a state official exceeded constitutional authority;
• whether a state constitutional right has been violated; or
• whether a state governmental action conflicts with federal constitutional requirements.

The state supreme court does not generally need to be renamed a “constitutional court” in order to perform these functions.

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15. The American Model of Decentralized Constitutional Review

The American approach can therefore be described as a system of decentralized constitutional review.

Constitutional questions can arise before multiple levels of courts.

At the federal level:

Federal District Courts → Federal Courts of Appeals → U.S. Supreme Court

At the state level:

State Trial Courts → State Appellate Courts, where applicable → State Supreme Court

A federal constitutional issue arising in state litigation may eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court if the constitutional and jurisdictional requirements are satisfied and the Court exercises its discretionary review.

The system is therefore decentralized, but not unstructured.

It operates through a hierarchy of courts and principles of precedent.

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16. What Is a Constitutional Court?

To understand the American model, it helps to define the alternative.

A constitutional court is generally a specialized judicial institution whose principal function is constitutional adjudication.

Such a court may have authority to determine:

• whether legislation complies with the constitution;
• whether governmental institutions have exceeded constitutional authority;
• whether constitutional rights have been violated;
• whether disputes between constitutional institutions should be resolved; and
• other questions specifically assigned to it by the constitution or governing law.

The exact powers vary substantially among countries.

There is therefore no single universal model of a constitutional court.

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17. Specialized Constitutional Review vs. American Judicial Review

The distinction can be summarized as follows.

Specialized constitutional-court model

A country establishes a distinct constitutional court specifically designed to exercise constitutional jurisdiction.

American model

Constitutional questions are generally decided by courts within the ordinary judicial system, with the Supreme Court serving as the highest federal court.

This is not simply a difference in terminology.

It is a difference in institutional design.

In a specialized model, constitutional review may be concentrated in one institution.

In the American model, constitutional review is integrated into ordinary adjudication.

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18. Does the U.S. Supreme Court Have Exclusive Authority Over the Constitution?

No.

The Supreme Court is the final authority within the federal judicial hierarchy on questions of federal law, including the U.S. Constitution, but lower federal courts also interpret and apply the Constitution.

State courts likewise interpret and apply the Constitution when federal constitutional questions arise in cases within their authority.

The Supreme Court’s decisions have controlling precedential authority over lower courts.

But constitutional litigation does not begin at the Supreme Court.

This is a critical distinction.

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19. Can a Federal District Court Declare a Law Unconstitutional?

Yes.

A federal district court can determine that a federal or state law is unconstitutional when the constitutional issue is properly presented and the court has authority to decide it.

The court’s decision may then be appealed.

If the case reaches a federal court of appeals, that court reviews the district court’s decision.

The Supreme Court may ultimately review the case if it grants review.

This illustrates why describing the Supreme Court as the only American “constitutional court” can be misleading.

Constitutional adjudication is distributed throughout the judicial system.

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20. Can a State Court Declare a Law Unconstitutional?

Yes.

State courts can determine that a state law violates the state constitution.

They can also address federal constitutional questions.

For example, a state supreme court may determine that a state statute violates the First Amendment or another provision of the U.S. Constitution.

If the decision concerns federal constitutional law and the requirements for Supreme Court review are satisfied, the U.S. Supreme Court may review the federal issue.

State courts therefore play an important role in constitutional adjudication.

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21. Constitutional Review and Federalism

The absence of a separate constitutional court reflects the broader structure of American federalism.

The United States has:

• a federal government;
• fifty state governments;
• a federal judiciary; and
• fifty state judicial systems.

Constitutional questions can arise at every level.

A state legislature may enact a law raising a federal constitutional issue.

Congress may enact a statute raising a constitutional question.

An executive agency may take action that allegedly exceeds constitutional authority.

A local government may adopt a policy that allegedly violates constitutional rights.

Different courts may encounter these disputes.

The federal judicial hierarchy and Supreme Court precedent help maintain national consistency in federal constitutional law.

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22. Constitutional Precedent and the Judicial Hierarchy

The decentralized nature of constitutional review does not mean every court has equal authority.

Courts operate within a hierarchy.

A federal district court must generally follow controlling Supreme Court precedent and controlling precedent from its federal court of appeals.

Federal courts of appeals are bound by Supreme Court decisions.

State courts are also required to follow controlling Supreme Court interpretations of the U.S. Constitution.

This system allows constitutional review to be decentralized while maintaining authoritative national rules.

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23. What Happens When Different Courts Disagree?

Because multiple courts can interpret the Constitution, disagreements can arise.

Two federal courts of appeals may reach different conclusions about the meaning of a constitutional provision.

This can create a circuit split.

For example, one circuit might conclude that a particular governmental practice violates the Constitution, while another circuit concludes that the same practice is constitutionally permissible.

The conflict creates uncertainty.

The Supreme Court may eventually grant review in an appropriate case to resolve the disagreement.

The Supreme Court’s decision then provides authoritative guidance for lower courts.

This is one of the most important mechanisms by which the decentralized American system maintains doctrinal coherence.

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24. Is the Supreme Court the Final Word on Every Constitutional Question?

The Supreme Court is the highest federal court, and its holdings on federal constitutional questions are binding on lower courts.

But saying that the Court is the “final word” requires some qualification.

Constitutional doctrine can change.

The Supreme Court can overrule its own precedents.

Constitutional amendments can change the constitutional text.

Political branches can respond to judicial decisions through legislation where constitutionally permitted.

State courts may develop independent interpretations of their own state constitutions.

Therefore, Supreme Court precedent is extraordinarily authoritative, but constitutional law exists within a broader constitutional system capable of change.

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25. Constitutional Review and Constitutional Amendments

A constitutional amendment can alter the legal framework within which courts exercise judicial review.

If the Constitution is amended, courts must interpret the Constitution as amended.

This is fundamentally different from ordinary legislation.

Congress cannot simply amend the Constitution through an ordinary statute.

A constitutional amendment requires the process established by Article V.

This illustrates an important limit on judicial power.

Courts interpret the Constitution, but they do not possess unilateral authority to rewrite its text.

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26. Constitutional Courts and the American Historical Experience

The American model developed within a constitutional tradition in which courts were already understood as institutions capable of interpreting and applying law.

The federal Constitution created a Supreme Court and authorized Congress to establish lower federal courts.

It did not create a separate tribunal dedicated exclusively to constitutional questions.

Over time, constitutional adjudication became integrated into the ordinary judicial process.

The result is a system in which constitutional questions are not treated as an entirely separate category of judicial business.

Instead, constitutional law can arise in criminal prosecutions, civil litigation, administrative disputes, federalism cases, civil-rights cases, and many other forms of litigation.

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27. Why the American Model Matters

The institutional structure matters because it affects how constitutional litigation occurs.

Under the American model, a constitutional challenge is often connected to a concrete dispute.

A person does not ordinarily ask a separate constitutional court to review a statute in the abstract.

Instead, the person must generally establish a legally sufficient claim and invoke a court’s jurisdiction.

This creates a close connection between:

• constitutional rights;
• judicial power;
• jurisdiction;
• standing;
• remedies;
• precedent; and
• actual litigation.

Constitutional law is therefore deeply integrated into ordinary judicial practice.

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28. Advantages of the American Model

The American system has several institutional characteristics that can be viewed as advantages.

Constitutional questions arise from real disputes

Courts generally decide constitutional issues in connection with concrete facts and legal claims.

Multiple levels of judicial review

Constitutional questions can receive consideration by trial and appellate courts before reaching the Supreme Court.

Development through precedent

Constitutional doctrine develops through successive cases and judicial reasoning.

Access through ordinary litigation

A constitutional claim can arise within many different forms of civil, criminal, or administrative litigation.

Federal and state participation

Both federal and state courts can play roles in constitutional adjudication.

These features allow constitutional law to develop through an extensive judicial process.

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29. Potential Challenges of the American Model

Decentralized constitutional review also creates challenges.

Different courts can initially disagree.

Constitutional litigation can take considerable time.

The Supreme Court cannot review every constitutional dispute.

Access to federal court depends upon jurisdiction, standing, procedural requirements, and other doctrines.

As a result, a constitutional question may sometimes remain unsettled for years before receiving definitive Supreme Court treatment.

The system therefore sacrifices some institutional centralization in exchange for integrating constitutional adjudication into the broader judicial process.

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30. The Supreme Court’s Unique Constitutional Role

Although it is not a separate constitutional court, the Supreme Court has a unique role.

Its constitutional decisions establish binding precedent for lower courts.

It resolves major conflicts among lower courts.

It determines important questions concerning the meaning and application of the Constitution.

It also decides constitutional disputes involving the relationship among federal institutions and between the federal government and the states.

The Court is therefore unquestionably a constitutional court in a functional sense in many of the cases it hears.

But institutionally, it remains the highest court of the federal judiciary rather than a separate constitutional tribunal.

This distinction is worth remembering.

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31. The Best Way to Describe the American System

The most accurate description is:

The United States does not have a separate constitutional court; it has a judicial system in which courts exercise constitutional review as part of their ordinary judicial functions.

The Supreme Court is the highest federal court and the ultimate judicial authority on federal constitutional questions within the American judicial hierarchy.

But constitutional review is not confined to the Supreme Court.

Federal district courts, federal courts of appeals, and state courts can all encounter and decide constitutional questions within their respective authority.

This is what makes the American model distinctive.

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32. Constitutional Review Is Still Judicial Review

The absence of a separate constitutional court does not mean that the United States lacks constitutional review.

Quite the opposite.

Judicial review is deeply embedded in American law.

When a court determines that governmental action conflicts with the Constitution, it is exercising judicial review.

The institutional question is simply which court is exercising that authority.

In the United States, the answer can be a federal district court, a federal court of appeals, the Supreme Court, or a state court, depending on the nature of the dispute and the applicable jurisdictional rules.

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Key Takeaways

The United States does not have a separate constitutional court in the traditional institutional sense.

Instead, constitutional review is integrated into the ordinary judicial system.

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal judiciary and has a central role in constitutional adjudication, but it is not exclusively a constitutional court.

Federal district courts can decide constitutional questions.

Federal courts of appeals can review constitutional issues.

State courts can decide questions under both the U.S. Constitution and their respective state constitutions.

The American model is often described as decentralized judicial review.

Constitutional questions ordinarily arise within actual cases and controversies rather than through abstract requests for constitutional advice.

Standing, jurisdiction, ripeness, mootness, and other justiciability doctrines limit federal constitutional adjudication.

The Supreme Court’s constitutional holdings bind lower courts within the judicial hierarchy.

Disagreements among lower federal courts can produce circuit splits that may eventually be resolved by the Supreme Court.

State supreme courts generally function as their states’ highest courts rather than as separate constitutional tribunals.

The key institutional distinction is therefore:

Specialized constitutional-court model: constitutional review is concentrated in a distinct constitutional tribunal.

American model: constitutional review is integrated into the ordinary judicial system.

The Supreme Court can be described as a constitutional court functionally, because it decides many of the nation’s most important constitutional questions. But it is not a separate constitutional court institutionally.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does the United States have a Constitutional Court?

No. The United States does not have a separate constitutional court comparable to the specialized constitutional courts found in some other legal systems.

Is the U.S. Supreme Court a constitutional court?

Functionally, the Supreme Court performs many constitutional-court functions because it decides major constitutional questions. Institutionally, however, it is the highest court in the federal judicial system, not a separate specialized constitutional tribunal.

Who decides whether a law is unconstitutional?

Depending on the case, a federal district court, federal court of appeals, state court, or the Supreme Court may decide whether governmental action violates the Constitution.

Can state courts decide federal constitutional questions?

Yes. State courts can decide questions arising under the U.S. Constitution when those questions are properly presented within their authority.

Can a federal district court declare a law unconstitutional?

Yes. A federal district court can determine that a federal or state law is unconstitutional when the issue is properly before the court.

Why does the United States not have a separate constitutional court?

The Constitution established a Supreme Court and authorized Congress to establish lower federal courts, but it did not create a separate constitutional tribunal. Constitutional review consequently developed as part of the ordinary judicial function.

What is decentralized judicial review?

Decentralized judicial review means that constitutional questions can be decided by multiple courts throughout the judicial system rather than being reserved exclusively for one specialized constitutional court.

Does only the Supreme Court interpret the Constitution?

No. Lower federal courts and state courts also interpret and apply the U.S. Constitution. However, lower courts must follow controlling Supreme Court precedent.

What happens if two federal courts disagree about a constitutional issue?

A disagreement can produce a circuit split. The Supreme Court may eventually review an appropriate case and establish a controlling rule for lower courts.

Can the Supreme Court change constitutional law?

Yes. The Supreme Court can overrule its own precedent in appropriate circumstances. Constitutional law can also change through constitutional amendments and, within constitutional limits, through legislation and other lawful governmental action.

Is judicial review the same as having a constitutional court?

No. Judicial review describes the authority to examine governmental action for compliance with the Constitution or other controlling law. A constitutional court is a particular institutional model for exercising that authority.

What is the most important difference between the American system and a specialized constitutional-court system?

The central difference is institutional. In the United States, constitutional review is generally integrated into ordinary judicial proceedings. In a specialized constitutional-court system, constitutional adjudication is concentrated in a distinct court created specifically for that function.