The Supreme Court of the Unites States

    

     

        The United States Supreme Court is the most powerful court in the world. The court has the ability to overturn the lower courts' decisions, write decisions that the lower courts must follow, and intervene when the executive and legislative branches try to overstep their authority in controlling American citizens' lives. Over the last several years The Supreme Court has been at the center of the political world. There have been three new justices in the last four years each one promoting an intense battle between Republicans and Democrats. People from both sides of the aisle think if their side has more justices that agree with their politics they will dictate policy in the country. The video we watched showed that justices were not interested in political agendas, but doing what was just and fair. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives when it comes to interpreting the constitution. Justice Scalia was intent on interpreting the constitution as it was written over 200 years ago, while Justice Ginsberg pointed out that things in the original Constitution have changed, like giving women the right to vote. When deciding a case, interpreting the constitution as it was written or changing the meaning of the constitution to fit the current time is one of the most critical questions. I like how they were willing to criticize other Supreme Court cases that were wrong, The Dredd Scott decision, and did not feel like they were beholden to the decisions of prior justices on the court.

        It was surprising to see how hard it is to get a case to The Supreme Court. They get over 7,000 cases a year and only hear about 100 of them. To me, this shows how important the cases they decide to take must be since there are thousands of cases they opted not to take. Another takeaway I had is how stupid the arguments and threats have been from politicians to pack the court. The Supreme Court is the hardest court to get on and it is a tremendous accomplishment if you get on it. I feel that keeping the number of justices at nine allows for a healthy debate between the justices that would become diluted if you add more justices. If the Democrats succeed and President Biden is allowed to add five justices to the bench, The Supreme Court will be just another tool the government uses to control the citizens of The United States. When a Republican wins the presidency what would stop them from adding more justices to the court? This cycle would continue and the court would lose what made them important in checking the power of the other branches of government. The Supreme Court must stay at nine justices. 

Links to the videos on The Supreme Court:

History of the Supreme Court Part 1

History of The Supreme Court Part II