U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the United States. The Supreme Court was established by the writing of the United States Constitution, it then began to form in 1789 when the Judiciary Act was passed. By 1790 the Court was fully formed and has been a crucial part of American history. The Court is made up of 9 justices that read each case and then further decide its rulings. 

While further educating myself about the Supreme Court by watching a documentary about the Supreme Court I learned that the Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial system on earth. Each Justice is appointed by a President but does not lose their place as a Justice once the President that elected them is out of office. In addition each Justice serves on average a term of 16 years. 

Overall the Supreme Court system is very complex but yet again very simple. The biggest take away for me was the idea that the Supreme Court interprets a 200 year old constitution safeguarding liberty, preserving the union and upholding the rule of law. We have the Supreme Court in order to keep the lower courts accountable. 

The most surprising thing I learned is that every case is individually looked at. Each week hundreds of cases are submitted to the Supreme Court and then divided up and assigned to one specific Justice, that Justice then reviews the case and further discusses their opinions with the other Justices in weekly conference meets. 

Before watching the video I had little to no knowledge about the Supreme Court. I say this because we constantly hear about the Court in the media but I never understood the breakdown of the Court, how it works and who's eligible to bring their case to the court. After watching the videos I learned a large amount about the Supreme Court and the basics of what the Justices do and how they do it. I believe I still have more to learn with regards to the court but also feel as if these videos gave me a much better understanding.

To learn more about the Supreme Court visit their website at: https://www.supremecourt.gov/