SCOTUS History

Before reading the article and watching the video, I did not know that Supreme Court Justices could be impeached, as was the case with Samuel Chase (1805). I had assumed that once a Justice was sworn in, they were there for life. I also did not know that in the Constitution there are technically no qualifications required to be a Supreme Court Justice. 

The most important information that I will be taking away from the article/video is that the process to become a Supreme Court Justice is a very long process. It also involves many different branches of government and people questioning, giving their opinions, and finally voting on the nominee. It gives me more faith in our system that we have the right checks and balances in place so that many opinions are heard and there is no executive decision made by one person or a small group of people. 

The First Supreme Court

It was surprising to me, and funny that the first case the Supreme Court ever heard was about a financial dispute between a farmer and a family he owed a debt to (History.com - Supreme Court). This put into perspective for me, how far we've come as a nation. We have created a well-thought-out system that delegates itself, checks and balances itself, and runs itself. 

The video showed me that the Supreme Court does not all agree on everything. I appreciate that the justices can debate topics and feel differently about cases. As a citizen, it can seem that the Supreme Court would just agree on everything and could pass laws without having a proper debate. 

This video and article reassured me that the government was created in such a way as to benefit each citizen, town, and state. I believe in the more opinions the better, and clearly so did the Founding Fathers.