U.S. Supreme Court

While watching the two parts from the Supreme Court videos, I was educated on the background of the Supreme Court system. Many of the facts that I learned, I had never heard about previously. The Supreme Court is made up of 9 Supreme Court Justices. 

Of the nine Justices, one is considered the "Chief Justice", and the others are considered the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. As is the same for all federal judges, Justices are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. 

Each one of these justices serves a life term; however, most average about 16-year terms. Each year they receive around 7,000 court cases that have been sent up from the lower courts. Of those 7,000 cases sent up, only about 100 of them are chosen to be looked into further. 

As the highest court in the nation, the Supreme Court plays an extremely important role in our system of government. Those accused of a crime view the Supreme Court as their "final chance". 

It is also on the Supreme Court to ensure that all branches of government understand the limits of its powers, but most importantly, the Supreme Court "protects civil rights and liberties by striking down laws that violate the Constitution". It sets limits on democratic governments and ensures that these majorities cannot pass laws that harm or in any way take advantage of unpopular minorities. 

In the second episode, I found it extremely fascinating that the judges aren't allowed to say "There is an issue, we need to solve" but instead that they have to wait until the case reaches the judges. 

It is the requirement of the Supreme Court to hear cases in public, which is something interesting that I learned especially because it feels that such a superior court would do things behind closed doors. Both sides get 30 minutes to make their arguments before the court. 

The stage is then set and nine of the most powerful officials in the United States get to do their work in the public eye. As Justice Scalia said in the video, the most powerful and important part of the whole process is the oral argument. "I view the oral argument as an opportunity to ask hard questions, that are raised in my mind" 

Supreme Court Courtroom

Within a few days after the celebration, the justices join forces to vote on the case. This is a private session but the nine justices are in all in the room together. After they come down with a decision one of the justices is
assigned to write an opinion and within the opinion, it is required to explain the legal reasons for the decision that the Justices determined. 

This process of opinion writing is among the most time-consuming for the justices to do. The justice assigned to this does get assistance through this process, as law clerks assist in researching and creating drafts.

It takes about four weeks for this opinion draft to be finished and then it is sent to all of the nine justices. Then the justices are allowed to re-draft. This is a process that could go back and forth several times to persuade an opinion. 

This is also a difficult process for the journalists who are covering these cases as these opinions are more than 70 pages long. In many instances, especially when the court is divided, this means there are a lot of materials that they will have to review. 

We are witnessing some of the most powerful men and women do their work at the highest court level.