Blog #2: The Founding Era

After learning a lot through the many articles and videos presented in my Media Laws and Literacy class, I find myself with so much more knowledge about the Supreme Court than ever before. For starters, one of the most surprising things I would never of even thought about was that before each case/trial every super court justice would shake one another's hand. It was to show a sense of respect and integrity, where even if they would disagree on a major issue presented in the court room, there was always dignity between the justices. 

It astounds me at the beginning, when Justice David H. Souter was talking about how it can take up to three to five years for you to almost forget that you are apart of the Supreme Court. It can often be overwhelming to some people that you are sitting on such a high position, so over much time it starts to calm you and for you to really only focus on the work. It also surprises me that they take the time, to review practically every case submitted to them, and review it, if it's good and valuable enough to be trialed here. It also surprises me that out of all the steps that happen during a case at the Supreme Court, the decision can be the longest. Spanning to four weeks, writing the opinion must be carefully done and only one justice is allowed to do it per case.

What I ultimately took away from the videos was that the Supreme Court was a powerful place to settle disputes and laws. Before then, I only considered it just like any other court or government office, only at a higher and fancier level. I thought they focus mostly in making and changing laws. Which is true but I also know now they deal a lot of time in very human issues in dilemmas. It takes the power of something as strong as the United States constitution, and makes sure to settle the issues of people fairly. Even if it takes some time for it to be fair to people of all race and gender. The lawyers even get 30 minutes of power, who have a captive audience, trying to convince the justices the truth and reality. 

Overall, my view about the Supreme Court feels much more different than before. The videos really show the pristine and intelligence that goes into creating the Supreme Court. Where you learn that each lawyer gets 30 minutes to create an oral argument that will, then be sent to a room where all of the justices will discuss, but only one gets to write an opinion. There is a lot of drama going on, where one man's choice in the Supreme Court could change the verdict entirely. Where everyone would speak once, before anyone would speak twice. There are many small details that highlight the amount of thought went in, and I certainly am curious to learn more about our government system.