Blog Post #2

SCOTUS

I learned a lot from the Supreme Court article. The Supreme Court is the highest-ranking court in the country. It is the head of the Judicial Branch and functions as defender and interpreter of the Constitution, which I think is the most important takeaway since it shows how important it is to our government. In addition, its judicial review power is an essential part of our government's system of checks and balances. This ensures that each branch of government adheres to the limits of its powers. The Supreme Court is the final judge in legal disputes, especially those involving prominent constitutional issues. The Supreme Court's decisions help create a precedent and provide conflict resolution to legal issues that may come up in lower courts. The Supreme Court has presided over many notable cases like Plessy v. Ferguson. However, it has also presided over cases relevant to today's world but might be lesser known. For example, Mapp v. Ohio made that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in criminal cases. 

 I did not know that the first court consisted of six justices and that they were required to hold a circuit court twice a year in each judicial circuit. This was not an ideal situation at the time since transportation was inefficient, so Congress scraped this in 1891. I also just found out that the original court comprised only six justices. However, in 1869, Congress set the number to 9, which it has been since. 

The Supreme Court video was also very informative. Hearing Justice Sandra O'Connor speak on the process of certiorari was very interesting. Certiorari is the process of a higher court reviewing a lower court's decision. Justice O'Connor explains that in accepting or denying certiorari, every petition made receives equal consideration. She specifically says it does not matter whether it was a prisoner writing it himself or a prisoner in jail. All petitions are weighed the same. I think this is so important since it is another example of how everyone should be treated equally.