Supreme Court 

The Inner Workings of the US Supreme Court

   I have never really known too much about the Supreme Court but am glad to be learning more about it. Established in 1789, the United States Supreme Court is the head of the judicial branch of government. It is the Supreme Court's job to draw boundaries of government power. In order to get the Supreme Court to take a case it must always start with a petition. Petitions are sent to justices once a week. After receiving the petitions, Justices have a trial court and meet weekly to decide which cases they should take. There are nine Justices of the Supreme Court who are each appointed by the President of the United States. A fun fact I learned was that a picture is taken every time a new Justice is appointed. 

 

    I thought a fun fact was that in these meetings the Justices always like to start of by shaking hands with everybody. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says that shaking hands is just a good way to break the ice, and that you are more likely to listen to the opinions of others if you have shaken their hand and properly met them. Another rule they like to have in these meetings that I found very interesting is that everyone gets the chance to speak once before someone speaks twice. Once they come up with a decision in these meetings, the justices all gather to vote on which case to take and the ultimate decision relies on the majority side. One justice is chosen to write up a written opinion that they will then have to argue in a court of law.  Any Justice can write a separate disagreeing opinion. Compromise is inevitable. The Justices release copies of opinions to the press. My favorite take away from the video is the closing statement that "the power of the court is the trust earned of the American people."