BLOG POST #2 About The Supreme Court

     

    The Supreme Court is responsible for interpreting the law, and determining how it should be applied. They have the ability to overturn laws that they deem are unconsitutional. Ultimately, the Supreme Court has a great responsibility to keep equal justice under the law. The court has the final say in all laws and has a huge responsibility to make sure that justice is served for all US citizens. 

    What I did not know about the Supreme Court was that the president has the ability to elect judges of their choosing, but under specific circumstances. A president is only able to appoint new Supreme Court Justices if a current justice resigns or passes. The justices are appointed unevenly, so one president may have many appointments, while others may have none. 

    I think one of the most important take-aways from this video was that the Supreme Court does not do anything in secret, because everything is out to public opinion. Many believe that because nobody is present during Supreme Court meetings other than the appointed justices, that the meetings are secretive and questionable. However, these meetings are simply just the justices bouncing opinons off of one another and thinking out loud. 

    It is also important to note that the Supreme Court cannot just bring up a problem that they think needs to be solved, as many may think. The president is the only one that has the ability to come into the office and bring up issues that need solving. The Supreme Court however, has to wait until the problem is brought to them, before they are able to commit to a solution. Usually, the topics that they are discussing are problems that have boiled up in the country recently. 

    The most surprising thing I took from this video was that lawyers are actually given the opportunity to present their arguments before the court, and then the court has the ability to decide. I thought that since the Supreme Court holds their meetings by themselves, that outside opinions would not be able to sway them one way or another. I was aware that they took public opinion into account, but I did not know that they actually allowed lawyers to present their arguments. This surprises me because I would have thought previously that they did not want to give lawyer opinions so that they do not have any distractions, however this video taught me otherwise. 

    This video changed the way I think of the Supreme Court because I feel like I have not learned much about what they do since my high school history classes. I have not had a history class in college so I enjoyed learning a little bit more about what their responsibilities are. I think people need to give the Supreme Court a lot more credit because they are having to make extremely difficult decisions knowing that it might upset some of the population, but they have to make the right decision for the greater good.