The History and Workings of the U.S. Supreme Court

 

    

What is the Supreme Court?

    Prior to watching these two videos, I had limited background knowledge of the U.S. Supreme Court. I have taken previous government classes where we touch on the role of the Supreme Court in the United States government, but didn't get to fully indulge in the nature of its roll. 

    The Supreme Court is comprised of nine Justices, each who keep this title for around 16 years. The court is used as an outlet to verbally debate cases and petitions. This court is the highest power in the American government and world.

Video Takeaways

      One new interesting fact I got to learn through these videos that I had no prior knowledge of, is that Supreme Court doesn't dictate which petitions they take on based on status. A petition could be written by a high-class citizen, someone in jail, someone famous, and the court will give each petition equal consideration despite who its written by. Learning this fact allowed me to recognize the true impartialness of the Supreme Court.

    By far, the most important take away after watching these informative videos is that the Supreme Court is a place of conversation that values the idea of fairness and different perspectives, to uphold Constitutional rights. In the lower courts, the verdict of the case is decided, yet the Supreme Court views the case from a strictly law perspective to uphold the values of the Constitution.

The most surprising fact I learned was how the Constitution, which was created over 200 years ago, still applies to our laws and guides in problem solving today. Despite different interpretations, perspectives, and opinions, the idea of Constitutional rights is what aligns the court in coming to a collective decision in disagreement. I also found it incredibly interesting that some Supreme Court has open connection to the public. No cases or ideas are secretive, the court is just used as an outlet for civil debate. 

Through better understanding of the Supreme Court, many of my past biases have changed. I now have changed opinions and realize the court is consisted of people instead of entities I hear about on television. This video allowed me to see the humility in each of the Justices and view them as people with opposing perspectives and versatile backgrounds. 

Blog Post #1 - Top 5 Sources of News and Information

In 2025, technology fills our day to day lives. Many platforms allow us to inherit and digest news on a frequent basis. We scroll and share with others constantly. Like most college students, my incoming source of news is typically through various online presences, rather than the newspaper. Why is this relevant? Where we get our news from says a lot about our individual beliefs, political stance, biases, and many other attributes. I hope you enjoy getting to know me through my top 5 sources of information!

Tik Tok

I use Tik Tok every day for multiple hours on end. This platform has allowed me to hear a lot of news that I didn't know much about. However, Tik Tok focuses on one individual's perspective and opinions when people, instead of news channels, are talking about current events. Today when I opened the app, I saw someone post a video they received from their husband. He took a video of the wildfires while he was at work, and the caption explains there was no evacuation plan. This platform definitely brings news into a reality and allows for coverage over things the media hasn't come forward with.

New York Times

The New York Times is a source that I get a lot of news from. I usually don't keep up with any news channels, but I usually do the wordle and connections. When I play the games, I usually see a story pop up underneath it and if it looks interesting, I will read. My uncle Martin previously worked for the New York Times, so I have always been very familiar with this news outlet. The stories cover lots of different topics and are extremely well written. 

Instagram 

I get a lot of my news from Instagram. I find that this is one of the first apps I open in the morning and the most accessible. An Instagram post from a news channel is typically pretty short and cuts to the point right away which I really love. For me, this is by far the easiest platform to read and digest news in really short amounts of time.

NBC Connecticut 

Every morning before High School, my mom had NBC Connecticut on the TV. I use this news channel to keep tabs on my hometown, seeing what recent crimes were committed and any accidents I should be aware of. My town is also fairly small, so I have known many people that made it onto this news channel. This channel allows people in Connecticut to travel safely and stay vigilant on things going on in the community.

Vogue

I like to keep up with fashion and certain people using Vogue. Vogue is a great outlet for me to keep up with what is still in fashion, upcoming fashion trends, people who have just accomplished something big, and other celebrities I am interested in. It is definitely my more superficial news outlet, but it feeds my interests and reminds me of my mother since she works in the fashion industry!