Supreme Court Video Reflection

 

Just over 100 people have ever served as Supreme Court justices. That's it. On average, they serve 16 years — often outlasting the president who appointed them.

I was surprised to learn how much of the Court's power was built early on. Under Chief Justice John Marshall, the case Marbury v. Madison established the Court's ability to strike down an act of Congress as unconstitutional.

But the Court hasn't always gotten it right.

Take the Dred Scott decision. It revealed that Congress didn't actually have the power to ban slavery — exposing the limits of the government's own authority, and showing the Court's power wasn't as absolute as people assumed.

Later, the 14th Amendment stepped in, guaranteeing that no one could be denied equal protection or due process under the law.

The key takeaway here was that the Supreme Court doesn't go looking for problems. Justices sit back and wait for petitions from people who believe their trial was handled unfairly, and only then can they act.

That's part of why the building looks the way it does — intentionally grand, meant to project power and, honestly, intimidate.

But here's the thing: the Court doesn't have its own police force. We don't have to accept its rulings forever, either. Through amendments, we have the power to overrule the Supreme Court.

This video changed how I see the Supreme Court. I always assumed its word was final. It isn't.

A few distinctions stuck with me. Civil cases are disputes between individuals — suing a person or company. Criminal cases involve the state. And every case climbs from district court to appellate court before it ever reaches the top.

And getting there is rare. The Court receives around 7,000 petitions a year through a process called "certiorari" — but only takes on around 100. That scarcity is exactly what makes the Court so powerful.

Even a denial carries weight, though not the kind people assume. Turning down a case isn't the Court "ruling" or "upholding" anything, despite how it's often reported.

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes put it best: "We are quiet, but it is the quiet of a storm center." Now I understand why.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo&feature=youtu.be 

AI DISCLOUSURE: AI was used in a limited way in this assignment. I took ample notes while watching a 20-minute video about the U.S. Supreme Court. I then personalized these notes by adding my point of view, for example, things I found surprising or interesting about what I learned. I then used Claude AI to help me clean up the text for grammar, spelling and punctuation. I also Asked the tool to help me shape it into the form of a blog post. I then edited the text, added links, and added images and captions.