Supreme Court

 The U.S. Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court that ensures the people with equal justice under the law and serves as an interpreter of the constitution. On average, the Supreme Court is asked to review 7,000 cases per year, but only takes 80 to 90 cases per year. 

After watching Part 1 and Part II of the Supreme Court videos, I learned that each week the justices meet weekly in conference to decide which cases to accept. I was wondering how the process of choosing which cases to take was done, and the video gave me insight to this. In the justice's conferences, they discuss the cases and vote on cases that have already been argued. 

The best takeaway point about the Supreme Court is "...and the inside story of a court is there is no inside story. It's people simply thinking." This quote was said in Part II and really stood out to me. I interpreted this quote as some people think that there are secrets in a court and this thought was shut down with this quote, saying that there are no secrets and the court is open. 

The most surprising thing I learned was about the process for granting certiorari. It was explained that no matter if it is filed by "high priced legal counsel" or "some prisoner sitting in jail" they both get the same individual consideration. Even though I knew that every American gets equal rights, I didn't think about it in this way. 

The videos changed the way I thought about the Supreme Court by it made me realize that these decisions that they make can potentially change history and our future. I never thought about how much power the Supreme Court has which gave me a new found respect for the court.