Blog Post 2: The History & Workings of the U.S. Supreme Court

The History & Workings of the U.S. Supreme Court

In this blog post, I highlight some interesting facts that I learned about the Supreme Court that I had no prior knowledge of before an educational video I watched.

I feel as though many people often forget how important the Supreme Court is in making decisions in cases that tend to be about major controversies or issues. I know I, for one, was never taught much about the Supreme Court except that they have final say in the cases they are given and are the most powerful branch in our judicial system. However, after watching a video about the history behind the Supreme Court and how it came to be the Supreme Court we know today, I can say I have acquired much information about the Supreme Court. 

The History Behind the Supreme Court

According to the video I watched, the Supreme Court remains to this day the most powerful judicial body on earth. I was naturally surprised by the fact that it is the most powerful judicial body in the world because I would have thought that somewhere in the world, there would be some type of body that had more power than the Supreme Court, but I was wrong. 

A fact that I did already know was that the Supreme Court interprets the constitution and making sure that liberty is still pursued and they strive to preserve the union and uphold the rule of law based on the constitution. In all of American history, there have been just over a hundred Supreme Court justices, serving an average of 16 years. Many remain on the bench twice that long, even decades after the president who appointed them has left office. I had no idea that justices served for that long so that was an interesting fact I learned. 

The Process Behind Cases Given to the Supreme Court

One of the most interesting facts I learned from the video was the amount of cases the Supreme Court receives and reviews. According to the video, the Supreme Court receives more than a hundred new cases every week (about 7,000 a year). Most cases arrive as petitions for certiorari, written arguments attempting to persuade the court that a lower court ruling was incorrect. The court accepts very few of these cases for full consideration--only about a hundred a year. 

Newly arrived petitions, along with written arguments in cases already accepted, are sent to the justices once a week. In their private office, each justice is assisted by a small staff of law clerks and secretaries to help review the cases. However, the justices themselves are expected to individually be responsible for deciding each case. From there, the justices meet weekly in their chambers to choose which cases the court will accept and decide, and to discuss and vote on cases which have already been argued. 

Within a few days after hearing arguments, the justices gather in their conference room to vote on the case. In this room, the nine justices are alone. There are no law clerks or even a secretary. After the justices vote to decide a case in the conference room, one of the justices on the majority side is assigned to write an opinion explaining the legal reasons for the decision. From this information, the video explains that "opinion writing for the justices is the most time-consuming part of the justice's work." 

Take-Away Points with the Supreme Court

One of the most important key takeaways about the Supreme Court--in my opinion--is the lengthy process of how the justices decide on a case that is brought to them. Before watching the video, I assumed that the court would take some time in processing the cases they received, but I find it extremely important that I now know the entire process behind cases being decided upon. 

The most surprising thing I learned would have to be how long it takes justices to actually finish a first draft of the court's opinion in about four weeks. That was a surprising length of time to me; I honestly would have thought a draft would take a few hours. 

Conclusion

After viewing the educational video about the Supreme Court, I have a completely different insight in how the Supreme Court functions. I believe the information I was able to collect from the video deeply helped be better understand our justice system, and with that understanding, I hope I can be a better American citizen in my understanding of our laws. 

**If you would like to view the videos I watched, you can find their links here --> Part I & Part II **

In my next blog post, I will be discussing the Eight Values of Freedom!