History and workings of the U.S. Supreme Court

Garrett Norberg

6-19-22

(COM-1450-01)

I did not know that the supreme court was established in 1789. Also, I had no idea they have the power of judicial review over local, state, executive and legislative decisions. Furthermore, I learned that the supreme court is led by a Chief Justice who is essentially the manager of the rest of the group. 

The most important take-away that I took from the supreme court information is about their appointment. They are nominated by the president and must be confirmed by the senate. This makes this process very politically motivated. I remember seeing all over the news information about Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. I now better understand why there was such an issue about Trump. 

There were many surprising and new things that I learned. One of the most was that the justices have lifetime appointments which means they will serve until they die. I also learned that the Chief Justice oversees the president's impeachment trials. I recall the recent ones about President Trump. I also remember hearing about the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. An additional surprising item was that over the recent years they have been more focused on ensuring that the makeup of the supreme court was more diverse than it had been in prior years. The addition of females and persons of color was a positive move forward. 

The video changed the way I look at the supreme court because I thought it was just a regular court overseeing federal cases. I did not realize that those cases have such a dramatic effect on social, political, civil, and economic issues. Lastly, the video changed the way I look at the supreme court because it made me understand the seriousness and the ramifications of these appointments and their decisions.