The Supreme Court + Appointments

Since its founding, the US has fought hard to defend the rights of its citizens from a tyrannical government. Through a long process, the US finally adopted the US Constitution which outlines all of the basic human rights that citizens hold. This prevents the government from interfering in certain parts of a citizen's life and keeps the government in check. In order to make sure the government maintains a healthy amount of power, the Supreme Court was instated to interpret the Constitution and make sure no rights are being violated.

The Supreme Court of the US is under the Judicial Branch of the US government. Presidents appoint these members to the court where they are serving life terms. The first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was John Marshall. Under Marshall, the Supreme Court handled the Marbury v. Madison case. This case established Judicial Review, meaning the Supreme Court has the power to review an act of Congress and determine it constitutional or unconstitutional. This gave the Supreme Court more power and made the Judicial Branch more authority to check the other branches of government.

The power of the Supreme Court is vital to the protection of human rights in the US. The Supreme Court has reviewed many important cases such as Brown v. Board of Education, McCulloch v. Maryland, Korematsu v. the US, and Roe v. Wade. These cases are all debating important issues affecting the lives of individuals. Without the Supreme Court, the government could have easily taken control of these cases and abused their power. For example, the McCulloch v. Maryland case was a debate over what implied powers state governments had. Without a Supreme Court ruling, Maryland could have easily won the first trial and taken control over its citizens. A powerful court system that is willing to go against the government is key in protecting the government from corruption.

Recently, there have been issues surrounding the appointment system of Supreme Court justices. In the last presidential election, Congress was trying to prevent President Obama from making an appointment because he was about to leave the office. This violates the constitution because, at the time, President Obama was still the elected president and it is the president's responsibility to make appointments. But many Republicans were arguing that it was not fair for President Obama to make such a permanent decision if he was about to leave the office. Similar to the modern struggles of interpreting the Constitution, it is hard to live by rules that were made hundreds of years ago. In the beginning, it was fitting to have justices serve life-terms because of the decisions that were being made. It was beneficial to have the same justices setting precedents because they doing so to protect the Constitution. In recent history, Supreme Court appointments have been deduced to filling Washington with a certain political party with similar views to have strong control over the people. For example, Donald Trump was considering appointing justices that held similar views to him, especially on abortion restrictions.

The purpose of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution and set rulings that are for the people, not for your personal motives and political views. The Supreme Court was designed to protect all and defend the Constitution. This is not a way for politicians to weaponize their ideals and force them onto the country. Each US citizen is guaranteed rights under the Constitution and it is the Supreme Court's duty to make sure those rights are protected.