Post #2 Supreme Court Video Summary

 

                                                                   Photo Credits: CNN 
 

     In class today Prof. Smith had us watch a video (part 1) and (part 2) detailing the elements and interworkings of The Supreme Court of The United States of America. The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices all that are appointed by the President of the United States and every issue that hits those nine justices desk all starts with a petition. One thing that I found interesting and that I was unaware of was that these petitions can come from anyone and everyone as long as you are whiling to write your petition and  you believe you issue is unconstitutional, which is the next part of the Supreme Court. The  U.S. Supreme Court was set up to interpret the 200 year old U.S. constitution to help deem if the issues brought to the justices attention is constitutional or unconstitutional, this is the backbone of our justice system. Something surprising that I found in the video was that it stated that “ being appointed a U.S. Supreme Court is kin to being struck by lighting” I thought this was very interesting because the video is basically saying that being a justice is a rare feat, they go on to say that there have been only about 100 justices that have served for 16 or more years which is and amazing accomplishment that should be appreciated and respected. After the petition is submitted and chosen it is now time to argue the side of the case. Lawyers on each side of the argument are given 30 minutes to present their case before the Supreme Court. This is no easy task because when the lawyers are arguing before nine justices, it takes some skill to be able to juggle different minds of thought on the presenting issue; there is a saying in the video which states in the court there is “Arguments you made, you plan to give, and what you wish you would have said” this just goes to show that everyone involved with the presented case must be on their A game prepared to argue and defend their case to the nth degree. After the court preceding the justices vote in private and they write out an opinion explaining their reason for their decision, any justice may write their own opinion to try and persuade the other justices and with revisions coming to a final decision can go on for months. 

                                                                Photo credit: Opinio Juris

     For me I think the most important take away is that the justices cannot avoid controversy, everyday they walk into the most powerful court in the world not discussing parking tickets and misdemeanors but racial injustices and gender discrimination and no matter what the their ruling may be all American citizens will have to abide by their decisions even the President of the United States. Watching these two videos not only helped me understand the Supreme Court better but changed my thinking on it and I realized that this is a big undertaking for these justices and not one that should be taken lightly not only as a judge but as an American because they are ones fighting to keep our founding principles alive. This is no longer the appellate courts but something more that holds great power and great responsibility, If the court was no longer available to us then our nation would cease to exist.