Blog Post #2 (The Founding Era)

Background: The Supreme court of the United States, also known as SCOTUS, was created through the U.S. constitution and it essentially is the highest power in terms of laws for the United States. The supreme court currently has nine justices and their essential duty is to interpret the laws and work with the President and legislative branch of congress.

The U.S. Constitution

History: The supreme court all began in the year 1789 and it directly relates to the third article of the U.S. constitution. George Washington signed the judiciary act of 1789 which allowed six justices to serve the court until they died or retired. The justices were going to work in the Merchants Exchange building in New York City but they didn't because of transportation issues. For more than 100 years, the justices were required to hold circuit court twice a year.

President Washington

Supreme court justices: A supreme court justice is nominated by the president of the United States. The first court had the justices of Chief John Jay, John Rutledge, William Cushing, John Blair, Robert Harrison, and James Wilson. The chief justice is responsible for giving other justices assignments and they also decide who will write the court's opinion.

Chief Justice John Jay

Current Supreme Court Justices: As mentioned, there are nine supreme court justices. Although it began with 6 and the highest ever was 10 and the lowest ever was 5, the current number is nine. The total number of justices over the span of years to ever serve on the court is 115. The current serving members are chief John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen, and Neil Gorsuch.

Current Justices 

Supreme Court Cases: Some of the most notable supreme court cases that have changed history for good or bad include the following.

Dred Scott V.S. Sandford 1857- This case was when the court denied citizenship to African American slaves.

Plessy V.S. Ferguson 1896- This case upheld state segregation laws.

Korematsu V.S. The United States 1944- This case upheld world war two internment camps for Japanese Americans. 

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts

Blog Post #1 (News Sources)

 

The first area that I obtain news from is Instagram. I am on Instagram every day, scrolling through several posts, and through that, I get my newsfeed from political platforms. Instagram provides brief news stories on their platform and it is easy and convenient to see what is happening in the world.

The next platform I get my news from is Facebook. The reason being is that Facebook is similar to Instagram in the sense that it is a social media platform that offers brief news stories from political sources. It is slightly different in that it also is more intuitive since it provides video footage of live news conferences from politicians. 

https://abcnews.go.com/

I use ABC news because it generally offers moderate political leanings and it does not take a specific slant one certain way. I really go to this source for actual content with real news and basically fair and unbalanced stories. 

https://www.foxnews.com/

I use Fox news because it offers political news that aligns with my own political beliefs. That being said, I really try to pick and chose what I should believe from their news reports so that I can form a valued and educated opinion about things.

https://www.cnn.com/

I lastly use CNN because it offers a different perspective and world view on certain issues. I really don't agree with what they say at all but it challenges my thinking and I can sometimes be informed and educated by what the newscasters are saying.