Blog post #2: The Supreme Court

 The Supreme Court, or SCOTUS, has been an integral part of the United States government for centuries. After taking a deep dive into the history and inner workings behind SCOTUS, I have learned some valuable pieces of information. 

I've known for a while that the Supreme Court justices play a crucial role in the judicial branch of government and that there are nine justices in total. It's time to get down to what I didn't know previously. 

The Supreme Court was originally created and organized through the Judiciary Act of 1789, which was signed into law and made official by George Washington during his presidency. The act was a power exercised by Congress in the legislative branch, with permission from the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court initially consisted of six justices, rather than the current nine. The rule about each justice's term has remained the same since the start: serve on the court until they pass away or retire. 

The first six Supreme Court justices were John Jay, John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Iredell, John Blair, and James Wilson. John Jay was the first chief justice to serve on the Supreme Court and was nominated by George Washington. The Supreme Court justices get nominated by the President, but it is then the Senate's job to confirm or deny the nomination to set it in motion officially. John Jay was in charge of a lot of things as chief justice, such as literally the entire Supreme Court and planning weekly meetings. In addition, the chief justice is put in charge of all presidential impeachment trials in the Senate. 

As previously mentioned, the first set of Supreme Court justices was only a group of six, and as most of us know, there are currently nine justices who serve on the court. The number has been switched around a few times over the years, but eventually, having nine justices was set as the standard by Congress in 1869.

 

The most important takeaway point from doing research on the Supreme Court is that the Supreme Court has heard and taken on some of the most important court cases that have shaped the way our country is now. I'll list out some examples. Texas v. Johnson in 1989 allowed us to clarify what is and is not included in our freedoms in the First Amendment, which in this case was burning the American flag, and that is perfectly fine to do apparently. Another far more impactful and important case is, of course, the court's first decision in 1973 and their damaging press of the undo button in 2022 for Roe v. Wade, which protected women's right to have an abortion. The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court can hold power over a woman's uterus is an issue I won't go into here, but I would just LOVE to rant about it in the future. Truly. 

I was surprised that in a paragraph mentioning notable Supreme Court justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's name was nowhere to be found. She had done so much during her time as a justice, and she especially supported and fought hard for women's rights. She was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and the first ever Jewish woman to serve. I think she deserves proper recognition for her achievements.