Blog 2: The Supreme Court

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   The Supreme Court was first established in 1789. President George Washington signed an act that specified that there would be six justices to serve on the court and would remain in position until they either retired or died. Over time, it has changed a bit. Today, there are now nine justices on the court, but they still are to serve on the court until they retire or die. I learned from the article that though the court had its first meeting on February 2nd, 1970, it didn’t actually hear any cases in its first term. I feel as if the most important takeaway about the Supreme Court is that the Court is charged with ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and also functions as an interpreter of the Constitution. What I found interesting is that the chief justice, the highest judicial officer in the nation, is responsible for presiding over the Supreme Court and setting the agenda for the weekly meetings with the justices’. It is also interesting to me that in cases where the chief justice is part of the majority opinion, the justice has the authority to assign who will write the court’s opinion. 

The video changed my way I thought of the Supreme Court in that I realized it is not as biased as people make it out to be. Many believe that if the court is the majority of one specific political party, that the justices will vote based on their political party. What I have learned is that the justices’ job is to interpret the Constitution without any bias of the political party. After doing some of my own research, I have also seen that some of the Court justices vote on laws that would not reflect their political party but almost go against their party views. This is what I believe many people should realize as people often worry about a party majority in the Supreme Court.