What the Supreme Court Stands For

When signing up for JOU 1450, I was told, "know the First Amendment before you walk into the class." Now I understand why. At least once a week Dean Smith asks, "What are your rights?" or more often, "What are the first five words of the First Amendment?"

I was unaware of the difference between Supreme Court and Congress. Now I understand that Congress's role is to pass laws (none that infringe on a fundamental personal right from religion, of religion; speech, press; assembly, or petition.) while the Supreme Court's role is to interpret them. 

Interpretation is built upon years and years of set precedents. Arguably one of the most (for lack of a better term) respected qualities of the Supreme Court is their reliability to set a precedent and strive for continuity through stare decisis. Understandably, not every decision should be kept. 

In fact, the same level of admiration can be given to the Court's ability to maintain stare decisis, while also recognizing that the option to overturn previous decisions reflects the Supreme Court's commitment to upholding fairness, especially as society evolves over time.

This gives me a sense of theoretical comfort: the Court always has the opportunity to make the right decision. However, any decision the Court chooses is the "right" one in terms of upholding The Constitution in its entirety case to case. More specifically, it is ensuring each plaintiff and defendant have the same playing field. 

But I also recognize that decisions can be influenced by who has the better legal argument—or, in many cases, who has more financial resources to back up their case.

For all the apparent absolutes in the law, there is a considerable amount of flexibility. For example, while the overturning of Roe v. Wade (1973) was seen as a setback by many feminists, cases protecting abortion rights might still succeed under the precedent of Eisenstadt v. Baer (1972).

Bref, I have faith in the Supreme Court to continue making the most logical decisions to uphold the values of our country.