Blog Post #2

America was struggling to organize as a nation after the Revolutionary War ended. Forming a new government was a large and daunting task.  While there were three branches of government determined by the Constitution, the role of the Supreme Court was not as well-defined in the Constitution.

The Supreme Court did not have much control until John Marshall came to power and increased the authority of the Supreme Court. In 1803, Marbury vs. Madison created Judicial Review. Through this ruling, Marshall was able to establish the court's job at ruling on the constitutionality of laws. Judicial review is the power of the Supreme Court to review all actions and deem them constitutional or unconstitutional. Decisions made by the Supreme Court became final. Finally, the Supreme Court then had equal authority as the other two levels of government.

I  think that the Supreme Court has always tried to do what it is designed to do, protect the freedoms of the individual and deem cases constitutional or unconstitutional. My biggest take-away is that if the Supreme Court ever stopped defending the Constitution, or the people ever stopped listening, America’s freedoms as we know it will cease to exist. People trust the power and authority of the Supreme Court as a concern for principles that have nothing to do with politics.


The video by Davis Stephens says that the power of the court is the trust of the American people (Stephens, 2013). However, as I watched the video by Davis Stephens, I was surprised that the Supreme Court has to wait for the problems unlike individuals in other branches of government. In some cases where there have been corrupt individuals in power that are trying to advance their own political agendas at the expense of the constitutional rights of everyone involved, and when constitutional rights are threatened, the supreme court steps in. I like that  the video by History Channel explains that the justices are not elected by the people in an election but nominated by the president and approved by congress (History Channel, 2018).







Works Cited


  • Channel, History. “What Is the Judicial Branch of the U.S. Government? | History.” YouTube, YouTube, 29 Jan. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9giPmCWnepU.
  • Stephens, Davis. “Bedrockprinciples.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvayjZizPEo.

  • Stephens, Davis. “Comm3390 Supreme Court, Pt. 1.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Sept. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo.
  • Stephens, Davis. “Comm3390 Supreme Court, Pt. 2.” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Sept. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8qSuWxcG8.
  • Stephens, Davis. “Founding Era Timeline.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=piN6uMrXzMM&t=194s.
  • Stephens, Davis. “Our Constitutional Order.” YouTube, YouTube, 5 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfl2NBfvff4&t=32s. 




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