Supreme Court

The Comm3390 video taught me a lot about the Supreme Court and its tasks and operations. The Supreme Court is recognized as the most powerful judicial body in the world, holding a unique and essential position within the U.S. government. One key source of its power comes from the trust it has earned from the people, as citizens generally accept and abide by its rulings. This trust ensures that when the Supreme Court makes a decision, it holds significant weight across the country. Despite its influence, the Court can only take a limited amount of cases. They receive around 100 cases a week, but can only accept 100 cases in the full span of a year. 

Something that I found interesting, was the way the nine Supreme Court justices collaborate while coming together on a case. Each justice, with their own legal background and perspective, comes to the case after having done thorough research and developed an independent understanding of the situation. When we observe them questioning lawyers or discussing cases, it seems like each justice is following their own path or trying to achieve a different goal. However, this diversity of thought is one of the Court's strengths. Allowing each justice to analyze the case from their unique perspective, they can work together to come to best possible group made decision.

This independent yet cooperative approach is very different then how other branches of government often operate. In Congress, for example, political divisions frequently result in two opposing sides working against each other. In the Supreme Court, the justices are not divided by political parties but by their own "interpretations of the law". This dynamic seems to be a refreshing break from the constant clash of parties that seems to go back and forth and constantly seems to be dividing the nation politically. 

The video highlights how John Marshall and Dred Scott ( case ) played key roles in shaping the Supreme Court's history. John Marshall, as Chief Justice, made the Court powerful by establishing its ability to review and overturn laws through the principle of "judicial review" in the case Marbury v. Madison, as stated in the video. 


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