Blog Post #2: The History of The Supreme Court

 



If I am being completely honest, I don't know that much about the supreme court. As much as I keep up with current events, I never really looked into how the supreme court works. Reading about the history of the supreme court was interesting and helpful, especially due to current events. 


What is the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court is the highest level of court and the head of the Judicial branch. The Supreme Court has the final say on laws and cases brought to their attention. The Supreme Court is made up of Supreme Court Justices. These Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the President of the United States and then later ratified by the Senate. There are currently nine Supreme Court Justices. As of Today, 115 different justices have served on the Supreme Court.  

How did the Supreme Court come into existence? 

The Supreme Court was established in 1780. George Washington signed an act that stated that six justices would serve on the Supreme Court until their death or if they chose to retire. The Supreme Court's first meeting was in 1790, and the Court did not hear any cases for a while as most of the meetings were just to work out organizational procedures.

What are some notable cases?

 The Supreme Court gets called to look at a lot of cases, however they do not accept many of them. Some of the cases that they have accepted have changed the lives of Americans forever. Some of my favorite cases that the Supreme Court ruled over include:

    Roe v. Wade (1973) - Women were given the right to choose an abortion (during the first two trimesters)

            Roe v. Wade will always be an important case. Before Roe v. Wade. women were forced to do at home abortions, or to have a child in an environment in which the child is uncared for and unloved. 

    U.S. v. Nixon (1974) - Presidents cannot withhold evidence in criminal trials

            I love this case because it allowed the citizens of the United States to feel like they had some say in a president's fate. What I mean by this, is if a president was allowed to withhold evidence because he's the president, if a president committed a serious crime, we would not be able to do anything if the evidence was not there.

    Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) - legalization of same-sex marriage in all 50 states!!!

            Growing up I always though same-sex marriage was legal, when I got older and I realized it wasn't I was extremely confused. I remember the day in 2015 so clearly, and I remember my friends and family celebrating and crying. 



Sources

History.com Editors. “Supreme Court.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 11 May 2010, www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts#section_3.



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