Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is made up of nine Justices whose utmost responsibility is to the citizens of the United States. In a similar respect, the power of the court comes from the trust the American people hold in them. 

The Supreme Court holds a unique power because they are not affected by party limitations that hold other branches of the government captive. Presidential candidates often attempt to sway the courts with their nominations, but once Justices are in place they often refer back to their own beliefs and ethics rather than party beliefs. The Justices often place the weight of their decisions on their principles rather than the political parties they are supposed to align with.

The Supreme Court not only holds great power, but they also have significant limitations. The Supreme Court is not able to address just any issue they want, like the Legislative and Executive branches can. Instead, they must address the issues that the people raise and honor what is impacting Americans, not in their opinion, but in the opinion of the people.

The Supreme Court is limited by time constraints. They receive over 7,000 requests per year, but only have time to review a select few cases. I found it interesting to note that they give the same consideration to every request no matter who wrote it.

The Supreme Court is made up of nine Justices at a time, but there have only been around 100 Justices in the history of the United States. Justices are nominated by the President and then must go through a process to be appointed by Congress. However, once they are in office they serve for life or until they choose to retire. This is very different from the way other branches run with public authorities serving for terms of just a few years before re-election.

It is also important to point out that the Supreme Court is not selected by the people. This group of individuals is considered one of the most trusted in the nation, and there is an understanding that citizens obey the decisions of the courts, even though they do not directly elect them. 

Many people hold misconceptions about the Supreme Court and its daily operations. Many people believe that what goes on inside the court is quite different than what the public views. There have even been cases in the past when the public has lost trust in the Court for these reasons. However, the Justices make it quite clear that there is not inside story of a court. The court cases are held in public, and while the decisions are made in private the opinions are published for the public to see. 

Once a decision is reached by the court, an opinion is written by someone on the majority side. The opinion is the court's published statement about the case. It typically takes a long period of time to write because proper research must be done to support the choice the court made. The Justices are helped by law clerks who do research and help draft the opinion. Any of the justices can write a separate opinion if they disagree with the decision and explain their reasoning. A separate opinion may also be written to provide more evidence or a different side to the majority decision. These opinions range anywhere from a few pages to over eighty pages long. 

One thing I thought was interesting about the Supreme Court is that they shake hands at the beginning of every case to ensure everyone respects one another and comes out the other side without holding a grudge.  They also created a system where everyone on the court speaks once before anyone speaks twice. 

When I had thought of the court in the past, I often thought about them as a bunch of lawyers who sat around and argued all day. However, after watching the two Supreme Court videos, I realize that they are  just individuals trying to fight for the American citizens in the best way they know how. Their foundation is our trust in them and they work each day to not only protect us, but to respect each other.