Blog #2: The Supreme Court

After completing the reading this week, I learned that the Senate has to confirm or deny the president's nominees for Supreme Court justices. I thought the President simply made the decision regarding who he wanted as a Supreme Court Justice. It makes sense though, since Congress has to approve laws before they are passed. I appreciate the fact that Congress is involved as it doesn’t give the president complete power. This helps prevent the president from simply “packing the court” and nominating justices that just support his political party. 

The most important fact that I learned from the reading was simply how important the Supreme Court truly is for our country. The Supreme Court has held several cases that have changed our nation. For example, several important cases that went to the Supreme Court include Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Mapp v. Ohio. The Supreme Court not only determines the outcomes of civil rights cases but also cases that involve the Bill of Rights. Our Supreme Court continues to play a vital role in our country. 

I was surprised to learn that Congress has changed the number of seats 6 times over the years. The number of seats has ranged from 5 to 10. Currently, there are 9 seats that are filled. The article noted that Congress will try to change the number of justices to achieve political goals. This has created a lot of controversy over the years. I also found it surprising that only 115 justices have sat on the Supreme Court. Considering how long the Supreme Court has existed, I thought the number would be much higher. 

Before reading the article and watching the videos, I barely knew anything about the Supreme Court and how it works. The reading made it clear just how complicated the Supreme Court truly is. The nominee for Supreme Court Justice plays a vital role in determining how our future will look. Because I was very uneducated about the Supreme Court to begin with, I don't think I could say that reading the article changed the way I thought however, reading the article helped me consume new information about the Supreme Court that I didn't already know.