In class we watched two videos, there was a part 1 and a part 2. Both videos were about the Supreme Court. The video's helped me understand how powerful and important the Supreme Court is, but also how much its power depends on the trust of the American people.
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States, with nine justices who interpret the Constitution and decide cases that come before them. I found it interesting that the Court cannot simply choose the issues it wants to address. Instead, people must bring cases to the Court, and the justices decide which cases they will hear through certiorari, which is the power to choose which appeals to accept.
The justice assigned to write the majority opinion may revise it several times while trying to persuade the other justices. This showed me that compromise and persuasion can play a major role in the Court's decisions, and it's is not uncommon that there is a lot of persuading within the courts.
Another important point was that the Court's authority comes largely from the Constitution and the public's acceptance of its decisions. Unlike the president or Congress, the Supreme Court has no army or police force to enforce its rulings. Its legitimacy depends on people believing that it is interpreting and following the law. Overall, I learned that the Supreme Court has enormous influence over American society, but its power is closely connected to the Constitution and the trust of the people.
AI DISCLOSURE: AI was used in a limited way in this assignment. I took ample notes while watching a 20 minute video about the US Supreme Court. I then personalized those notes by adding my point of view, for example, things I learned and found exciting. 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.
