Supreme Court (Blog 2)

The Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial court in America. It is often where cases come to be heard one more time or die their fateful death with the lower court's decision. The nine Supreme Court justices have thousands of cases brought to them every year. The cases range from appeals written by high-price lawyers to prisoners sitting in jail cells.

The Supreme Court has over 7000 potential cases a year that are brought in front of them. As stated before, the beauty of the court is that any American can bring an issue to the court. These issues range from a judge to a prisoner sitting in jail. I thought that this is such a unique concept in America that your voice can and will be heard. However, the sheer amount of cases they receive is baffling, and sifting through them all until they find ones that could use some clarification is a lot of work. The justices say it takes 3-5 years to adjust to the court's daily inner-workings, and I believe it. 

Although the justices said that they feel the court is very open, I don't feel the same. I feel as if there is a lot of mystery with the inner workings. I didn't realize how much paperwork goes into running the court, with each justice having huge law staff to help write opinions, read cases, and select new cases that may pique the interest of their justice. To have to read through 7000 cases a year is a daunting task that requires their big team. 

The most important takeaway that I got from the two videos is that the justices are the ones who decide the verdict on a case, but the people are the ones who bring the issue in front of them. This is truly the people's court. On the news, you hear about concerns over new justices being biased and influencing their political agenda. The critical point was that the judges aren't the ones who decide what cases are presented to the court. They can't say that they think somehting is an issue and have a trial. The people have to explain the problem after usually struggling in the lower courts to get a straight answer. This seemed like one of the most powerful tools we have as citizens to see real, lasting change in the country. 

Overall, my thought and takeaway on the Supreme Court is the immense respect for a challenging job. Most cases presented to them have been in the court system for years and are not easy to solve. Some instances like the gay-marriage case have substantial social implications with immense news coverage and people outside the Supreme Court building. It is a very time-consuming, thankless job that many take for granted. The power they have to make a permanent change in the country is a significant responsibility that makes sense; it takes several years to become fully adjusted to the court's inner workings.