Blog Post 2

The Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court is the highest judicial branch in the United States and has jurisdiction over all laws. Its main purpose is "ensuring the American people the promise of equal justice under law and, thereby, also functions as guardian and interpreter of the Constitution. The Supreme Court is "distinctly American in concept and function." 

The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices. The current members of the Supreme Court are John G. Roberts Jr. (Chief Justice), Clarence Thomas (Associate Justice), Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (Associate Justice), Sonia Sotomayor (Associate Justice), Elena Kagan (Associate Justice), Neil M. Gorsuch, (Associate Justice), Brett M. Kavanaugh, (Associate Justice), Amy Coney Barrett, (Associate Justice), and Ketanji Brown Jackson, (Associate Justice). These justices are appointed by current and former presidents. There have only been 17 Chief Justices and 104 Associate Justices since the formation in 1790. 

Something I found interesting about the Supreme Court was that it receives around 7,000 cases annually and only accepts around 100 a year. I understand they can't accept all of these, but I feel that the Supreme Court could accept more than 100 cases per year. Something I did not know was that when the Supreme Court was formed, there were only 6 justices. I always thought it was an odd number, so the ruling could not be tied. Another thing I found interesting was that justices are appointed for life. I feel this is absurd because if you have justices who are all similar in age, I feel their perspectives may be the same. I think this may alter some decisions due to growing up in different time periods and may affect younger generations with their rulings.