History of SCOTUS

The Supreme Court is the highest level court in the United States. In today's blog post, we will discuss the overall history of SCOTUS and what is important about the high court. 

The History, Current Figures and Important Figures

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The Supreme Court of the United States was founded in 1789 just years after the American Revolution broke out in 1776. Since the courts' inception, there has been a total of 116 court justices. The court itself is located just off the National Mall in the center of Washington, DC and serves as the judicial arm of the federal government. There is a total of nine justices headed up by a Chief Justice. Currently, the chief justice is John Roberts with associate judges of the likes of Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and most recently appointed by Pres. Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson. All in all, the Supreme Court is the most important and powerful court in the United States. They handle cases that have been appealed and sent all the way through the local jurisdiction courts, state courts and their respective appeal courts, maybe even some federal courts. If an appeal makes it all the way, the Supreme Court can choose to hear the case or not. Most times out of not, if there is a quality basis for appeal that made it all the way there, they take the case, most times, offering an objectified and solid decision and opinion. 

Surprising Information

One thing that had me surprised about the supreme court was the arrangement of how the judges sat while in the Courtroom. Being from the DC area, I always knew the Chief Justice sat in the middle of the group, what I did not know was the tradition of  alternating seats by seniority within the court. The senior associate justice sits to the right of the Chief justice, and the second senior is on his/her left and alternating from there on. 

        Photo Credit (www.supremecourt.gov)

Media Selection and Reaction 

One thing that took my interest from the media selection was (now former) Justice Stephen Breyer. His words on the humanity of the court surprised me. He described the justices acting on their conscience and making it clear that the public has no impact on the courts decisions they make. It was also striking how history involved the court is. This was a made clear by the Marbury vs Madison decision written by Justice Marshall.  John Marshall was a true leader back when he assumed the role of Chief Justice. In fact, it was so far back, the Supreme Court building haven't even been built yet. The court and its justices were working out of the freshly completed capitol building in Washington, DC. His work earned the respect of the then Congress and the President as the equal third branch of government. 200 years later, Justice Kennedy also described the wisdom and misfortune gained by the history of the decisions made within the court. Kennedy also described the ill-informed sentiment that the public has in connection with the actual work that is completed within the court. 

Photo Credit (harvardmagazine.com)

Top Five News/Information and Sources

 Introduction

Almost every person consumes some type of media every day. In many cases, people rely upon news websites and social media to gain an understanding on what is happening around the world which could have an effect on their daily lives. Listed below are my top five sources I gain information from on a daily basis.

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Twitter is a web company which provides a platform for all who decide to participate with one caveat, users are limited to 280 characters within a post. In most cases, people would go to Twitter to find what is trending or find news sources from many media networks like NBC News, ABC News, BBC News and  countless others.  In addition, people may visit Twitter to find news about their favorite hobby or pastime. An example of this is the National Football League (NFL) News Media,  who always seem to battle to see whoever can post breaking news about the league the fastest. While there are many favorites among people who enjoy the league, the people among the top are Adam Schefter, Ian Rapoport, or Ari Meirov. 

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Instagram is a web company along with being a subsidiary of Facebook, another web company. Users on Instagram are required to include a photo when making a post. In most cases, people go to Instagram to follow their friends in whatever they post in the moments in their lives. Many organizations and companies use Instagram to promote items as well as their employees or influencers being paid to promote their items. People also go to facebook for news regarding many industries including News media, fashion industry accounts like GQ, and more. All in all, Instagram is a great source for information that is requested by the user and recommendations made for the user by Instagram based off the user's browsing history and mutual accounts followed. 

Photo Credit (en.wikipedia.org)

Facebook is one of the original social media companies available to everyone in the world. As of 2022, it is still going strong as many of its original users are still active on the website and the mobile applications. It is also popular for Colleges and Universities to have pages for students in graduation class to connect with their current and future classmates. It's network also provides an opportunity for users to "like" and follow public pages which could involve news agencies and public pages for users to follow with no paywall. All major media networks like Fox, CNN, MSNBC and more. 

Photo credit (nbcwashington.com)

NBC 4 Washington is one of the nation's top local news stations. In addition to covering local news in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, it also covers main stories from around the country to give viewers a better sense of what is happening outside their viewing area. They also cover the biggest sports stories from the day at the local, state, and national levels. They also cover the weather with one of the most trusted and liked meteorologists in the country, Doug Kammerer. NBC4 is also live, for free, with no sign on needed for anyone through their website. It allows for those who are less fortunate to watch the news and be informed of what is going on around them. 

Photo Credit (en.wikipedia.org)

Along with NBC4, ABC7 (WJLA-TV) is one of DC's top news broadcasts. They operate on Sinclair's broadcast networks so they feed off what is going on locally but also at the national level. They also work closely with ABC worldwide, especially ABC's World News Tonight. They regularly have discussions with host David Muir, who tells the story and provides a good teaser of the ladder for his show which follows. Like NBC4, ABC7 also does sports and weather which sometimes rival the coverage of the other local stations. What separates the two is the lesser coverage of the national aspect. ABC7 focuses more on the local side of broadcasting and brining the news to the viewers watching.