Blog Post #2

The majority of what I learned from watching both videos,  are predominantly facts about the Supreme Court that I was previously unaware of. Such as, there have been just over 100 Supreme Court justices, serving 16-year terms on average, ( and some are still on the bench that have served twice that long ). Additionally for a bit of history, when the government moved to Washington DC in 1801, the Supreme Court was given temporary quarters in the nation's capital, which at the time was unfinished. 

                                               

 - Image of the 1801 Capital.

The most important takeaway point from the videos was the idea of how the cases end up at the Supreme Court. Meaning, that the video exclaimed the importance of the position of the Supreme Court which they can not choose what cases they cover, unlike a mayor. The video explained the process of the Supreme Court waiting for people to bring their problems to them. The court receives issues that have been boiling up in the country and must evaluate them objectively and stick to the goodwill of the constitution as much as they can. Additionally, how critical the specific issues are when people come, “Knocking on the Supreme Court’s door”.

There were a few surprising things that I learned. A few were smaller interesting facts mentioned in the video. For one, before a meeting and or conference, all of the Supreme Court justices must shake hands with each other, as I've come to learn is known as the "Judicial Handshake" ( Other Traditions ). 

This may seem like a peculiar practice, however, the video's explanation made me think about its implications. A woman in the video stated that the purpose behind it is to establish a psychological connection between each court justice. This way, they will be able to communicate more effectively, and the justices are less likely to hold a grudge after conversing with each other.

In terms of how the video changed my perception of the Supreme Court, it was for the most part minimal. However, I believe that I have a better grasp of how in-depth it can be. For example, the second video went into depth with the process of the most time-consuming part of a justice’s job, writing opinions. The nine justices go into a room in private and come to a decision. After a decision is made, one justice on the majority side writes an opinion. I always knew that this was a long ordeal, but these two videos showed me good examples of not only the complexity of the Supreme Court but how reliable they are and how important they are in regard to the American people. I took an American Politics course last spring, and we discussed the Supreme Court at length for a period of the course. Since then, I have forgotten a substantial amount of information regarding the Supreme Court. Watching the videos and thinking about it again now, has been helpful for me to brush up on the complexness of the Supreme Court and its responsibilities.

Video 1

Video 2