Supreme Court History Reflection
Before reading the overview of the Supreme Court from the History Channel, I honestly did not really know much about their history or how they truly operate. When I read, "The Supreme Court of the United States (or SCOTUS) is the highest federal court in the country and the head of the judicial branch of government." it really caught me off guard, not because I did not already know that prior to reading but because the actual thought of having that responsibility and being in that position is a tough pill to swallow. I will say that I took interest in the early days of the Supreme Court compared to now. I for one am glad that I read this article because I have a better understanding of how this branch of government works and what it really does.
- New things I learned about the Supreme Court
The early days section of the article from the History Channel is what stood out most to me because I had no idea when they firstly came together for their first meeting which was February 2, 1790, and they weren't even focused on any kind of legal cases but rather focusing on figuring out their organizational procedures. I also learned that "For more than 100 years after the foundation of the Supreme Court, the justices were required to hold circuit court twice a year in each judicial circuit." I actually think that is a very interesting idea and wonder what that would look like in today's time, but it was abolished by Congress back in 1891. I also learned about who the actual members were of the first Supreme Court which were Chief Justice John Jay, Associate Justices John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson, but Wilson did not want to serve and declined so he was replaced by James Iredell.
- Most important take-away point about Supreme Court
In my opinion, the biggest take-away point after reading about the Supreme Court was actually getting a basic understanding of what it is they actually strive to do and reading up on all the cases listed on the History Channel website peaked my interest even more. The Obergefell v. Hodges case of 2015 centered around the legalization of same-sex marriage across all 50 states stood out to me the most because it is near and dear to my heart due to certain family members. This case also resonated with me since we just talked about the 14th Amendment in detail last week in class. The 14th Amendment states, "No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." It's sad that I myself hadn't even thought about how people not having the option to marry the people that they love legally was a direct violation of that and seeing my uncle upset that he felt like he was trapped in a box before the legalization of gay marriage was something truly heartbreaking for me to witness. The Supreme Court only agrees to hear maybe hear about 100 - 150 cases a year I believe when there are thousands presented to them so when this finally became a topic of interest and importance, it was nice to see how my uncle finally felt represented and looked forward to the future for once.
- The most surprising thing I learned
I would say the most surprising thing I learned after reading this article was the section centered around the 1962 Engel v. Vitale case because it was centered around religion and prayer. The Supreme Court made a decision and decided that if prayer was initiated by public schools or showcased within public schools, it violated the First Amendment. Following that, the Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe back in 2000 made the decision that students are not allowed to lead prayer using the school's intercom system. i found this surprising not because the actual act of it is surprising, but because of how it impacted me and how I thought about prayer/religion. I feel it is important that certain people's ideologies and views should not be pushed onto children before they get the chance to make the choice themselves without prior influence. I was heavily pushed into religion at an early age and I have since strayed from that to a degree, but I respect everyone that believes something different from me because that is within their right, but I do feel that those views and thoughts should be kept to themselves and their close ones unless prompted otherwise.
- How the article changed the way I think of the Supreme Court
In all honesty this article ddi not really change/alter my view of the Supreme Court really at all, and I'm not sure if that is due to me not having a lot of information prior to this or what it is. I think some of the cases I slightly read about brought up interesting questions and made it seem all the more clear that it is important to have a group of people on a team in a sense working together to come up with a solution rather than leaving it up to one person. I have respect for some of the conclusions they come to because I don't know that I myself would be able to make such rash decisions that have a huge impact on so many other people.
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