The Radical Idea of a Court By The People, For The People


Image result for supreme court
Image result for supreme court
 As we have talked about the founding of our nation, and especially our form of government, it has further astounded me that the Founding Fathers had enough foresight to form the government in the way they did.  Three separate branches, keeping each other in check, all getting their power to operate from the people, was an idea the world had never heard of before.  One of the aspects that I did not know much about was the supreme court.  The two videos we watched for class that are linked below really explained the courts in simple ways and had one main theme: the judges are Americans just like the rest of us, and they get their power from the people in the same way that the other two branches do.  When talking about the history of the supreme court, the fact that the courts receive their power from "public faith," as the video puts it, is possibly the most radical idea to come from the Founding Fathers.  A people who decides their own laws, and petitions the court to change a law the public deems unjust, is a power the world had never seen before, and I believe it is one of the reasons that the American Experiment worked.  People appointed to office didn't fight for power, they saw it as their responsibility to serve and protect the people they presided over.  Which, I think, explains some of the discourse we have in our country today; as seemingly more and more politicians fight for a foothold to keep their power in Washington, instead of always focusing on what is best for the country and its people.

Supreme Court Videos:
Part 1   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo&feature=youtu.be
Part 2   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8qSuWxcG8&pbjreload=10         

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