Blog post #2- Supreme Court

 

The Supreme Court is the most important court and is often used to help balance the United States of America and protect our freedoms. Without the Supreme Court, laws could be passed that go against our constitution and the American people can be violated of their rights. One thing I learned about the Supreme Court that I didn't know was how when the Supreme Court was first established, there were only 6 justices that served and over the years the number has risen or gone down from 5 to 10. Since 1869 however, the seats have remained at 9 and continue to do so to this day. Another interesting fact was how many justices have served over the years! There have been 115 justices who have served on the supreme court which was higher than I expected. The most important take-away point about the Supreme Court has to be how many major cases have been resolved that still to this day have such a big impact on the way we live. For example, when looking at cases such as Roe v. Wade and United States v. Windsor both focused on the right to have an abortion and focused on federal rights for the gay community. These cases are two examples of cases that went through that Supreme Court that dictate the way our society runs and the way we live. The Supreme Court has the power through following the constitution to make proper decisions based on the case at hand. Often, the supreme court will refer to a previous case and use that similar case as guidance for any new cases they get. The most surprising thing I learned was that the Supreme Court denied African Americans citizenship back in 1857. It's more of a shock factor that there was once a time in our country that our own Supreme Court denied people citizenship solely based on the color of their skin. The video and article opened my eyes to understanding the Supreme Court more as a whole as I often find myself learning new information each day regarding how the government in this country works.