Blog #2: The Supreme Court

 The Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial system in the world. It is made up of nine justices who have been selected overtime. Some justices last longer than the Presidents who appointed them. There is a lot I didn't know about the Supreme Court and watching the videos really taught me a lot about what their direct responsibilities are. 

Watching the video and hearing the nine justices talk about their first days and the first case they ever argued was really grounding to listen to. They are real people too and I think we put them on a pedestal because they are in such high positions of power. 

Ruth Bater Ginsburg was talking about how she didn't each lunch on the day she had her first case because she wasn't sure if she could keep it down. She was so nervous to start and I think that shows a real side to the justices that you wouldn't normally see.

All of them talked about that feeling they got when all the attention was on them and people were interested in only their opinions. RBG said she realized the people in the courtroom had no where to go for the next 30 minutes because they dedicated their time to be there to hear her. 

That feeling of having the power is something that a lot of justices had to get used to. Justice David H. Souter asked one of the justices that had been there before him if they ever got used to that feeling. Their response was that it takes three years. Another justice said it takes five and another said sometimes you just never get adjusted to it. 

Something I did not know about was how they decide what cases they are going to take on. In the video it said they get around 7000 new cases a year. The funny thing is they can't take on any cases they hear about and might be interested in. They have to wait for someone to bring their case to them, then the justices can all decide if they want to take it on. 

They meet and discuss afterwards too. A couple days after they hear the case and the evidence the lawyers presented they vote on their decision. After they vote, there is an opinion letter that gets written up and released to the press explaining their decision and what went into each justices idea on why they chose the side that they did. 

This process usually takes a minimum of four weeks. In the video they showed one of the letters that ended up being 80 pages long. I never knew the process the Supreme Court took in getting their decisions out to the public it was something that kind of just always happened. 

I think the most important take away from the video is the fact that they are all just people. Sometimes they make mistakes and in the video they talked about that. 

One justice said it feels like walking through wet cement and having those foot prints follow you. It's hard to be in that position of power and have your mistakes follow you. 

I mentioned in the beginning but realizing that the justices are all just people makes me feel like I shouldn't be as harsh when their decisions come out for cases. I might not agree and it will make me upset if they decide something i'm not in favor of. However, they are doing the best they can and I think we should take that into consideration.