Supreme Court Reflection

The United States Supreme Court took up residence in this building on Oct. 7, 1935

After watching a video about the U.S. Supreme Court, I realized there was a lot about the institution that I did not fully understand. While I knew it was an important part of the government, I came away with a much greater appreciation for its influence and responsibilities.

One of the most surprising things I learned was the sheer number of petitions submitted to the Court. I was amazed to learn that thousands of petitions are made each year. That fact alone highlighted how many people and organizations want the Court to review their cases.

Another point that stood out to me was the Court's reputation as the most powerful court in the world. Its decisions can have a lasting effect on society, which makes the role of the justices incredibly significant.

2026 Supreme Court Justices

I also learned that judges are expected to be impartial and independent. Before watching the video, I knew judges were supposed to be fair, but I had not fully considered how important independence is to maintaining trust in the legal system. That idea changed the way I think about the Court and the people who serve on it.

The video also discussed the Court's weekly conferences, where the justices decide which cases they will hear. I was surprised by how quickly this process seems to move. It felt much faster paced than I expected for such an important institution.

Dread Scott

Another interesting detail was that Supreme Court rulings can make issues clearer while also making them more difficult to change. Because of the Court's authority, its decisions can have long-term effects that shape future debates and legal questions.

The video also referenced the Dred Scott v Sandford (1887) case, which was presented as a controversial and damaging moment in the Court's history. It reminded me that even powerful institutions can make decisions that are later viewed negatively.

My biggest takeaway is that the Supreme Court plays an enormous role in shaping the country. After watching the video, I see it not only as a court that decides cases, but as an institution whose decisions can influence society for years to come.

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WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

AI DISCLOSURE: This post was a collaboration using Microsoft Copilot. I took detailed notes while watching a 20-minute video about the Supreme Court. In addition to facts that I learned, I emphasized my own reactions and opinions while watching. I then asked Copilot to help me improve the text by correcting grammar, spelling, punctuation. I then asked Copilot to help me shape the text into a blog post format. After reviewing the text, I added links to related sources, as well as appropriate images and captions.

My Top 5 News/Information Sources

Today there is constantly lots of chaos in the news, from wars to bad lettuce, we are constantly being fed information about what’s going on in the world. Big news corporations such as FOX or CNN are telling us how urgent and dangerous everything is, which brings us back to see more and get the next update. I don’t believe that this is the best way to get accurate news from reliable sources, so here are my top five news sources in no particular order.

 

1.        TikTok 

While the TikTok app isn’t a news source, thousands of companies and independent journalists use it to share their work and report news. Accounts such as Dylan Page or even King5 are constantly uploading new segments, ranging from small local happenings like a raccoon in someone’s house to bigger events such as a possible war in the middle east.

2.        Instagram   

Similarly to TikTok, Instagram has many of the same independent journalists and news station posting daily on their platform. I’ve come to find less censorship on Instagram, which has its pros and cons. Less censorship means that some stories can be reported more accurately with details that may have violated community guidelines elsewhere. However, this also means that it’s easier to find satire and fake news being reported just as much, if not more often.

3.         Word of Mouth   

When a newsworthy event happens, thousands of journalists will report on it, all with different information, narratives, biases, and formats. One person is going to see maybe 2 or 3 of these reports and feel educated on the matter. When people see the news and talk to a friend about it, that friend probably saw the same thing from a different platform, which offers another perspective to come to your own conclusions.

4.        Nick Shirley    

Nick Shirley is a content creator/independent journalist who investigates things like fraudulent activity happening within our government. He isn’t being paid by a company to report on issues and he’s not a political figure, he is simply an American citizen who wants to find out and report on bad things happening within his country. With no skin in the game besides needing a source of income, I find it easier to believe a regular guy who goes to the scene to interview and investigate than someone who’s being paid to read a script that their bosses wrote.

5.      Apple News

While I don't typically go out of my way to read about whats going on in the news, sometimes just a headline can be enough. On my iPhone, I added the Apple News widget to my home screen which shows just a few trending headlines from multiple news agencies about all different topics. They constantly change the headlines being shown, so whenever I scroll by it I get to briefly catch up on current events, or I can click on the headline shown if I want to read further. 

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AI DISCLOSURE

AI was not used in the writing of this blog post.