The U.S. Supreme Court Reflection

 

    Before watching this video, I did not know much about the supreme court at all- especially how much impact the supreme court decisions have within our country. I found it incredibly interesting that since the start of our country there have only been a little over 100 justices that each may serve on the supreme court for decades. However, the most surprising thing I learned was that they receive approximately 7000 new cases in a single year but only approximately 100 get chosen for review. Additionally, each case may take months to complete an official opinion on, with revisions happening the entire time and sometimes even complete changes of opinion when majority turns into minority. This fact helped change the way I viewed the supreme court, as I had no idea how much work they truly had to put into each case- likely influencing how many cases they choose to review and which ones they deem as a real national issue. I used to think of the supreme court as a secretive or hidden branch that I couldn't possibly understand the inner workings of. While the complexity of the process remains true, the idea that there is this secret to the court process is not. I especially liked that the justices in the video took the time to explain that just because they deny a certiorari does NOT mean they are upholding the decision of the lower court or ordering a previous ruling in any way.  Overall, I think the most important take away point about the supreme court, is that it truly tries to “play it straight” in an unbiased manner. Their main goal is to uphold the constitution, despite what may be the popular opinion or what direction the political tide may be flowing in at the time. The appointed justices take an immense amount of time to review cases and determine results, knowing that their word could very well change the course of future cases/trials and thus, the course of history.