Blog #2: Supreme Court

Above the main entrance of the Supreme Court is the statement "Equal Justice Under Law." This is what the Supreme Court is to aim to uphold. The Supreme Court holds the most authority as they have the say on all cases and controversies arising under the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court makes sure that the laws are upheld and that neither president, congress, or anyone in the government goes against the constitution. One example, where the Supreme Court stepped in and stopped the President from making a law was with President Biden. The Biden administration wanted to enforce vaccine or test requirements for large private companies. The Supreme Court blocked this mandate. This example really shows what power the Supreme Court has in governing laws. 

I am not very familiar with the Supreme Court, so learning how much power they have was something I did not fully realize. In the article it summarized the supreme court by expressing the power the court has. For example, the Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the country. It is in charge of the judicial branch of government, and it has control of all laws in the United States. I think the take-away about the Supreme Court is that this power they have leads to them being able to check actions of the other two branches of government. The other two branches of government being the executive branch of the president and legislative branch of Congress. Thus, the Supreme Court ultimately has the most authority in our government. 

Something that surprised me while reading the article, was that the first meeting conducted by the Supreme Court, was held on February 2, 1790, but no cases were even held in the first term. This surprised me, but as I read the article it was explained that this was because in the first term of the Supreme Court, meetings were held to work on organizing procedures. In the video one procedure that the Supreme Court does, is that they shake hands. As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor spoke in the video she pointed this out as she stated that they do this as they are less likely to "hold grudges." This emphasized to me how each individual is there to try to do what they think right for our Country, and shaking hands shows this, as it reminds each of them that, they all are here for the same goal. That goal is what is written on the building "Equal Justice Under Law." They will do whatever it takes to uphold that statement.