Post #2: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility!

The Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial government. It was established on September 17th, 1789.  The Supreme Court is made up of eight Justices and a Chief Justice. All of the justices are submitted by the president and can either be accepted or refused by the United States Senate. The Supreme Court is very powerful. The Court has the power to override the president. A recent example of this can be seen through the mandatory vaccine mandate that United States president Joe Biden tried to put in effect for all business. This particular case got turned down by the Supreme Court because it violates the First Amendment which is the freedom of speech and the Fourth Amendment which is freedom from searches and seizures without a proper search warrant.   

         

I did not know that the Supreme Court was as powerful as it is. I knew that the particular sector of government had a say in particular governmental cases, but I did not know that the Supreme Court had the highest power within those cases final decisions. I learned a lot from the two videos we watched in class on the Supreme Court. I learned that the Supreme Court picks and chooses the cases they want to consider, this is known as certiorari. For a case to get to the Supreme Court level, it has to be deemed a federal issue. If a case does not meet the standards of the Supreme Court, then it is up to the state courts to make the final decision. 

I found it interesting that the Supreme Court discusses and decides their cases within the public. You would think that because of the Supreme Court being ranked as high as it is within the government, that the cases would be discussed in private, but that is not the case. One fascinating piece of information that was brought up in the videos that we watched in class said by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was that "the Supreme Court shakes each others hand at each hearing because you are less likely to hold a grudge when you shake hands first." I never really thought of that before and that simple little gesture can really shape the emotion in the room while discussing and deciding on a case.