Blog 2: Supreme Court Reflexion

From these videos, I learned a lot about the Supreme Court that I wasn't aware of in the past. I also heard some insightful words from some Supreme Court justices who held positions when this video was first made. One first fact that I didn't know was that there have been hundreds of Supreme Court Justices. While I knew it has been around for a while and that many have served, I never realized how many there have actually been. I also didn't know that each justice was assisted by a team of lawyers and secretaries. I was aware they had a team behind them, but I initially thought the team backed them as a whole, rather than each individual. 

Liptak, Adam, and Keith Collins. "Inside the Supreme Court: A Virtual Tour." 
The New York Times, 27 June 2024,
 https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/06/27/us
/supreme-court-chamber-photos.html

The video also opened my eyes to how much thought goes into each case, big or small. It was interesting to hear that every case gets equal consideration no matter its size. Cases concerning high priced legal counsels or even small cases of concerns of prisoners. This was interesting to me considering the size of the country and the amount of cases this entails. The fact that all are considered by a court really puts into perspective the work that courts do. 

Some of my biggest take-aways from the video were some of the insights given by Supreme Court justices, especially Sandra Day O'Connor. The first thing she said that stuck with me was the philosophy behind the tradition that the judges have before each meeting of shaking hands with each other. She says she finds comfort in this because it makes it harder to hold a grudge on someone you may having opposing views with as it almost humanizes your "enemy". Another interesting thing that she said was the analogy of how some opinions are made delicately as they are almost like leaving footprints in wet concrete, because these are big decisions made that affect an entire population. These "footprints" make the court and the people affected by it less open to change.

Millhiser, Ian. "The Supreme Court Has Fully Embraced an Antidemocratic Right-Wing Agenda." 
Center for American Progress, 30 June 2023
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-supreme-court-
has-fully-embraced-an-antidemocratic-right-wing-agenda/

Overall, this video changed the way I thought about the Supreme Court because it made them appear more human., Typically I have thought of the court and its justices as strict, statue-like figures, who have very strong thoughts and opinions. Watching them talk the way they did in the video displayed how wise they are, but also how normal. One justice even says in the video how people typically view the court as a secret because of the thought of a legislature, however it is simply just people at a table with opinions on important matters, and all of these opinions must be immediately published to the public. It showed me the truth behind the court and made me feel as though there is less of a disconnect between the people and those who make important decisions for our country.