The Supreme Court
S U P R E M E C O U R T
Previous to reading Supreme Court, the only knowledge I had was the rough historical foundation laid for me in primary school. I have not been in a position to use that information in over two years, therefore reading History Channel's article was my first step towards relearning the Supreme Court!
W H A T D I D I L E A R N?
B A C K G R O U N D
"The Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the country." It runs the Judicial Branch of government and it has the final say over which laws are, and aren't, passed. Even though it is the highest branch, the other branches have moderate power over it to provide checks and balances! The Supreme Court was first established in 1789 by the U.S. constitution. Fun fact, this is the same article that provided Congress the power to create less powerful federal courts.
C H E I F J U S T I C E' S P O W E R S
"The Chief Justice officer is responsible for presiding over the Supreme Court and setting the agenda for the justices' weekly meetings." In certain situations the Chief Justice is a member of the majority opinion. When that is the case, they are provided with the power to pick who will write the court's opinion. Finally, they must sit on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and preside of presidential impeachment trials.
C O U R T C A S E S
The Supreme Court's history has a myriad of influential and impactful court cases. Typically when a court case is covering an issue that, previously, had never been seen, it sets a precedent. When this precedent is used as a deciding factor for future cases, that is referred to as Stare Decisis.
I M P O R T A N T T A K E A W A Y
When coming from Britain to America, the colonists wanted to make sure that they created a new type of government that was not modeled after what they previously experienced. The idea of Federalism, is one that was new to these individuals. Federalism: The sharing of power between federal and state. That being said, I believe the checks against the Supreme Court helping ensure the central government is not too strong, are an important takeaway.
~ The president checks the judiciary through the power of appointment, which can be used to change the direction of the federal courts
~ By passing amendments to the constitution, congress can effectively check the decisions of the Supreme Court
~ Congress can impeach both members of the executive and judicial branches
S U P R I S I N G T A K E A W A Y
As mentioned previously, the decisions made as a result of a court case can be used to back future rulings. What I had not processed about this concept is the potential for past rulings to have a future negative impact. Before Warren’s pro-civil rights decisions, the court denied citizenship to African American slaves in 1857 (Dred Scott v. Sandford), upheld state segregation laws in 1896 (Plessy v. Ferguson), and upheld World War II internment camps for Japanese Americans in 1944 (Korematsu v. United States).
C H A N G E D O P I N I O N S
Coming into reading this article, I did not have much prior information about the Supreme Court. I will say that the Supreme Court has less power than I initially thought. Even though it is the highest federal court, it is properly checked by the other branches!
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