The Key to Freedom
Simply put, I have always wanted to say those words in a crowded space while repeatedly slamming a hammer on a tale…to be greatly honest before doing my research I thought that the justices and the judicial branch was incredibly secretive and withheld a lot of information from the people and other branches. I was never a fan of the system that it established. Furthermore, I thought that the 9 justices were just stuck up old white people, who thought they were better than the rest. Let’s just say, I was not well informed. Or I just didn’t listen. The judicial branch and the justices inside the system are all incredibly important and useful in our society. This established system was our key to finally unlocking true freedom of the nation. But how did we establish such a complex branch? Well. It all started in the “basement” of the unfinished capital in Washington DC.
A Man. A Basement. And a Dream.
In 1801, Jefferson had just been elected president and for the most part the country was still trying to determine how the power would be distributed between the government and the people. Despite the country having a checks and balance system containing: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. However, there was a problem with this system. The judicial branch seemed to be casted into the shadow of the other two branches as it contained the least amount of power. According to History.com, since the beginning of our governments inception, many of our foundation documents completely left out any information on how a judicial branch could be established and utilized effectively in our government system. Action needed to be taken, but there was no one, who wanted to take on the responsibilities. Except for John Marshall.
When he was announced as chief justice, he began to take on the responsibilities of establishing and equal system. he did the unthinkable (at the time), he pushed back against an act of congress and denied their decision defining it as unconstitutional. This action led to the court case: Marbury vs Madison. This court case is what create what is the most important duty of the Supreme Court, Judicial Review. This meant that if the Legislative Branch and or the Executive branch created and or passed a law/act that violated a right, the judicial branch could use Judicial Review to deny the creation or passing of that law/act because it violates the people’s rights. It is the prime directive of the judicial branch to watch over the other branches and acts almost like a watchdog to make sure that the Constitutional rights are not violated by the other branches. It is a complex system that has worked for us for years, but how has this system changed and or remained in today’s modern society?
A Modernized System
As of 2022, there are a total of nine Supreme Court Justices, and their job is to overview the many writs of certiorari. Certiorari is a plea from the lower courts requesting that the Supreme Court to overview and decide on a specific court case that the lower courts might not have a complete answer for (or simply put the case itself is larger than the lower courts). They receive around 7,000 appeals from the lower courts and because the Supreme Court does not have to accept all of them (nor do they really have the time), after careful reviews, they accept about 100 appeals. While this may seem very small, the Justices do their best to choose the appeals that tackle some of the harder questions that take into question many possible violations of rights and or conflicts between the people and government as well as many other national conflicting topics.
Once a case is accepted, a stance is chosen by many of the participants in the Supreme Court Case. Following that is the Oral argument. The Oral argument is a debate that gives all the sides thirty minutes to state their position on the matter while simultaneously trying to persuade the other members to join their side. After completing the Oral argument, the Supreme Court Justices met up in what is called a Justice Conference, where the members of the Supreme Court get to speak their mind, ask questions, and even argue certain positions on what should be done. However, this is no middle school debate where everyone is arguing amongst each other.
There is a code that everyone follows, and it is that no one is allowed to interrupt one another. Everyone gets to speak at least once before opening the table for conversations. This halts a possible argument from brewing amongst the Justices. This whole process can take several months, but eventually the Justices come to conclusion on what should be done. The opinion is then finalized, and the decision is sent out to the public.
Justice Has Been Served
The Judicial Branch has gone from
being the weakest branch of government, to the strongest and most vital part of
the government. Its position allows it to observe over the rest of the government
and keep our rights in check. Without this branch of government or the powers
that it contains, the freedom that we have would no longer be stable and would
slowly dissipate. Freedom is only obtained through the implementation of a strong Judicial system.
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