Upholding the Law of the Land

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States of America. It is also the most powerful judicial body in the world. It is the court’s duty to uphold the constitution and ensure that the constitution is being interpreted correctly. 

When looking back at the founding of America, the Supreme Court did not always have the respect from American citizens that it has today. In 1801, Chief Justice John Marshall became very influential and helped create the respect that the Supreme Court deserves. Marshall is best known for his role in the Marbury v. Madison case. Moving forward, the Supreme Court lost a lot of respect from citizens during the Dred Scott decision when the court claimed it did not have the power to abolish slavery. After the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was added and justice was made. 

The Supreme Court is continually receiving new cases each week. More than one hundred cases are sent to the Supreme Court weekly, which adds up to almost 7,000 each year. Most cases come from previous state courts that citizens have felt were ruled unjustly. 

An important aspect of the Supreme Court that is different than all other branches of government is that they do not decide what issues to deal with. Citizens must bring issues to the court and then the court can decide to resolve them. 

The Supreme Court has a very important job and it is important that American citizens uphold respect towards the court in order to ensure order within the country. It is often said that it’s not fair for just nine people to look at such important cases and make a decision for the entirety of America. After viewing the Supreme Court video, I feel that all nine people have a large variety of different ideas and that is what makes this system fair and just. These justices have studied the law and their job is to look at the constitution in an unbiased way in order to make decisions that are correct and upheld through the law of the land.