Blog #2

 Let's Talk SCOTUS

The Supreme Court, also known as SCOTUS, is the head of the judicial branch of government and the highest federal court in the United States. What this basically means is the Supreme Court is top dog when it comes to laws and law abiding. 

The Supreme Court contains members known as "court justices". As years have past, we have had between five and ten justices presiding, however, in 1869 Congress set the number of seats to nine and its has continued as so ever since. 

After reading more articles and watching videos about the topic, I have learned much more about the Supreme Court. I first would like to point out that the President nominates the Court Justices and they must be accepted or denied by the Senate. In all honesty, I had no idea about this process, I just figured people applied for justice positions like they would for a "normal" job. 

In addition, I learned about the Chief Justice. The Chief Justice is the highest judicial officer who presides over the Supreme Court and sets agendas for meetings. This person also controls aspects of impeachment trials for presidents, basically the team captain for the Supreme Court. 

Something that truly surprised me was the average length of time justice holds a position. The video mentions the average length of time a justice holds a position on the Supreme Court is sixteen years, many continue to work much longer after that though. This was surprising considering the amount of schooling, training, social changes, political controversy and hypocrisy; the list goes on. 

I think it is important to learn about the Supreme Court due to the fact that living in a country such as the United States, it is crucial to be informed about what you will experience and who you deal with in such serious cases, can help create better outcomes for both sides.