The Court that John Marshall Built

     I have rarely given thought to the Supreme Court outside of my studies or their decisions like that of same-sex marriage being declared a right. However, after Tuesday's lecture and watching the video, I have taken away something that, for me, makes the supreme court a lot easier to understand: it is comprised of human beings. 

    I should point out that before watching the video I was aware that other people of my species made up the Supreme Court, but I never gave them any thought. The video revealed to me that the Supreme Court is comprised of flawed individuals that have a limit and are capable of being wrong. 

John Marshall

    Before I reflect more on my takeaways, I want to focus a bit on the founder of constitutional law, John Marshall. We owe our freedoms to the founding fathers, and we owe the maintenance of those freedoms to Marshall. Through the Marbury v. Madison Case,  Marshall set the precedent that allowed the Constitution to be continually applied, even as the nation aged and progressed. The ability of the supreme court to expound on constitutional laws allows 'We the People' to expand beyond the small part of the nation it originally included.

      

    As a result, the current Supreme Court Justices are equipped to draw their conclusions and consider if previous rulings were constitutional. This brings me back to my point about the court of fallible humans. The 9 Justices are only able to hear roughly 100 of the 7,000 cases that are brought to them each year. They have to research and draw conclusions on issues that will affect the entire nation. Though, the very law or decision the court might make will apply to them the same as their next-door neighbor. They have the freedom of the nation in their hands. As the video said, "The inside story of the court is that there is no inside story, it's people simply thinking."

 

    My sheer appreciation for the Supreme Court has been renewed and refreshed through watching this video. The system only works because the court has earned our trust. In the same vein, as long as that trust continues, our freedom does too. Our freedom is only as good as the credibility and trustworthiness of imperfect humans.