The Supreme Court

 

    The Supreme Court of the United States is undoubtedly the most powerful court in the entire world. The Supreme Court has the power over all laws inside the United States. It also has the power to, if necessary, make sure the other two branches of government, the legislative and executive branches, are in check. The Supreme Court was established in 1789 by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. It was said in the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was signed by President George Washington, that the court would be made up of six justices. These justices are nominated by the current President of the United States and can be confirmed or denied by the U.S. Senate. The first Supreme Court was made up of Chief Justice John Jay, and Associate Justices John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson. Nine Justices make up the current Supreme Court, and there have been 17 Chief Justices, along with 112 Justices.

One surprising thing that I learned about the Supreme Court was that the Chief Justice is the highest-ranking officer in the United States. Our current chief justice in the Supreme Court is chief judge John Roberts, who has been the chief judge since 2005. The chief justice is in charge of basically running the Supreme Court. Roberts also is in charge over trials of impeachment of the President of the United States. This has only been the case three times, where President Andrew Johnson, President Bill Clinton, and President Donald Trump were all acquitted. 

  

    The Supreme Court has had its fair share of famous cases in the past, with all of them being huge landmarks in U.S. history. One famous example was the case of Marbury v. Madison. This case was famous for being the first time that the Supreme Court struck down an act of Congress as being unconstitutional. Another milestone case was Dred Scott v. Sandford. The question in this case was whether Congress had the constitutional power to prohibit slaves in free territories. This case ultimately become a big issue in the debate of slavery and really powered the start of the Civil War. One final important case in U.S. history is Brown v. Board of Education. The case established the notion of "separate, but equal" doctrine, which was legalized in Plessy v. Ferguson.  The ruling of the case was that racial segregation was unconstitutional in public schools. This case ultimately started the Civil Rights Movement, and fueled people in the South to get rid of the Jim Crow Laws, and end segregation for good.

I feel as if I am more educated and know more about the Supreme Court than ever before. The Supreme Court ensures the American people equal justice and law under the Constitution. The Supreme Court is needed in our world in order for us to live as civil as possible, and I think it is important that college students need to learn more about our government and understand exactly what we came from.