U.S. Supreme Court

I read the overview of the Supreme Court by the History Channel. I found this reading to be interesting and a nice refresher about the Court. The Supreme Court was established in 1789. At first, it only consisted of 6 judges but now is 9. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the nation with the highest judicial officer being the chief justice.  The justices are nominated by the President and either confirmed or denied by the U.S. Senate. 

Something that I learned from the reading was that William Taft was the only person to serve as both President and chief justice. I thought that was really interesting and did not know that was possible. This was also interesting to me because judges are supposed to be non-partisan. I also learned that only one justice has ever been impeached. 

I think the most important point about the Supreme Court is that the chief justice is the highest judicial officer in the nation. The chief justice presides over the Court and sets the agenda for the justices' weekly meetings. When the chief justice is a member of the majority opinion, they can also assign who will write the Court's opinion. The chief justice also presides over trials of impeachment against the President in the U.S. Senate. This is a very important position for the Supreme Court and makes sense why it is the highest judicial officer position. 

I was very surprised to read that as of June 2022, there have only been 115 justices to serve on the Supreme Court. I expected there to have been more, but it also makes sense when remembering they serve on the court until they pass or retire. I also was surprised that the first assembly was postponed because of transportation issues. 

After reading the overview, my view on the Supreme Court did not change but the level of importance they held for me increased. I always knew the Supreme Court was important and had powers that others do not have, but it never fully registered that they are the most important officials in the country.