Supreme Court

Because I am a Criminal Justice major and took many criminal justice classes in high school, there was a lot of information in the videos, Comm3390 Supreme Court, Pt. 2 and Comm3390 Supreme Court, Pt. 1, that I already knew about. However, there were certain things that stuck out to me.

First, one thing that I didn't know before watching Comm3390 Supreme Court, Pt. 2 was that Supreme Court justices can change their opinions. I assumed that the judges would hear a case and make their decisions right there after an hour or so of deliberation and allowing time to create their decisions. I was unaware that this process took weeks and over the course of that time, justices could choose to change their opinion on a particular case.

I was also shocked to learn that prisoners can write their own writs of certiorari. In the video, the justices explained that a lot of the writs they receive are from prisoners who believe their rights have been violated and therefore write writs from their prison cells.

Another thing I learned from watching the video, is that it takes a few years, after the justices have been appointed, to get adjusted to the new position. Because justices usually come from decades of practice in a courtroom and with the law, I assumed the transition wouldn't be as difficult as it is.

Something that was shocking to learn was that Ruth Bader Ginsburg has argued a large number of cases in front of the Supreme Court before she became a justice. I knew that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of the first female justices to serve on the Supreme Court. I also knew that she had to fight hard to get people to treat her the same as her colleagues. However, it was shocking to learn that she had argued that many cases.