The Supreme Court Blog Post #2

The Supreme Court  

The Supreme Court is the highest Court in the United States, but did you know that there

were originally only six Justices? That’s an intriguing point and a new fun fact for me! Why was

the original number of Justices different than today’s number, which is nine? Long story short,

the circuit courts were originally divided into three regions, and there were two Justices

representing each region. As mentioned above, there are currently nine Justices serving on the

Supreme Court. In matter of fact, the number was modified in 1869 by Congress to have nine

Justices. The Justices are appointed by the President of the United States.  The Justices usually

hold their position for life.  The Justices serve until death or retirement. Believe it or not, the

average judge serves sixteen years!  There is a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices.

    The most important take-away point regarding this article is that the Supreme Court has the

final ultimate jurisdiction over all laws within the United States. Why is this a big deal? The

Supreme Court evaluates and ensures that there is no violation of the Constitution via Judicial

Review. Furthermore, the Supreme Court gives the American people the promise that there will

be equal justice under the law. You can look at it this way, it’s a promise from the highest Court

in the United States that all liberties and laws under the Constitution will be followed and

protected for the American people. The Supreme Court was created in 1789 and is governed by

Article 3 of the Constitution, and it is the largest Judiciary and most powerful court in the world.

There is so much information on the history of the Supreme Court, the current

responsibilities, and the past and current Justices. Let’s keep our focus on the key points. Most

importantly, let’s find a surprising fact that was learned in the article. Did you know that the

Supreme Court has the power to oversee the actions of the executive and legislative branches of

government? Don’t forget…the President oversees the Executive branch! In other words, the

U.S. Supreme Court can rule if executive orders are unconstitutional. It all boils down to

this…the Supreme Court is a check and balance system that ensures that the Constitution isn’t

being violated.

The video changed my thoughts on the Supreme Court by making me realize the important

role the Court has in our government, which ultimately affects us.  The Supreme Court rules on

cases that affect our daily lives.  These cases involve issues that have been impacted by Supreme

Court decisions.  In matter of fact, history has even been shaped by these landmark cases. For

example, the monumental case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, greatly shaped the

public school systems. The Court ruled unanimously that the schools could not racially segregate

the students, this was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. This monumental decision

impacted schools by ending racial segregation in America’s schools. Of course, it took time. This

historic decision also was a motivation for the civil rights movement. Other areas of society

were also positively impacted, such as housing, public transportation, and even higher education.

I also discovered how the Supreme Court is responsible for ensuring that we get equal justice

under the law.  Incredibly, there are 100 new weekly cases presented to the Supreme Court and

approximately 7,000 cases yearly!