After watching the videos, I learned a number of things about the Supreme Court. I learned that the Supreme Court remains the most powerful judicial body on Earth, but their power rests on public faith in their independence and impartiality.
The Supreme Court deliberates and reach their decisions in private.
When the government moved to Washington in 1801, The Supreme Court was given temporary quarters in the capitol. Slowly the Judicial Branch earned respect as a co-equal branch of the government. After two hundred years is when American people accepted the Court's authority.
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| The First Supreme Court in 1869 |
In all of American history, there have been just over a hundred Supreme Court Justices and each Justice serves an average of sixteen years.
The most important take away about the Supreme Court was that we as Americans, are living in the fact that the people who created the Constitution used words that guide us in solving problems, situations, and circumstances two hundred years later.
The videos taught me things that surprised me, one being that whenever a new justice arrives, the group poses for a new portrait. Imagine if we took a class photo every time we had a new class member join!
I did not realize how overwhelming emotionally exhausting it was to get appointed to the Supreme Court. One Justice said "Being appointed to the Supreme Court is Akin to being struck by lighting.
Another thing that surprised me was that every petition whether it was written by someone in the government or a prisoner behind bars, gets the same individual consideration.
"Many people would call the 14th Amendment as the second Bill of Rights. By that they mean that just as the Bill of Right was put into place to protect citizens against Federal Power, The 14th Amendment has been used pervasively in our time to protect individuals against the excesses of State Power."(A. E. Dick Howard).
This video changed the way I thought about the Supreme Court. I did not understand or appreciate how much work ethic and patience goes into their day to day life. I also did not realize how many petitions they get and the stress that they are put under by the U.S. Citizens.
