BLOG #2: Reflecting on the Supreme Court

As someone who doesn’t know much about the Supreme Court, I found these videos fascinating and learned a lot. One thing that really surprised me was how the Federal Government, including the Supreme Court, is intentionally designed to be somewhat weakened. I found this surprising because I had always assumed the Federal Government would want to have as much power as possible and wouldn’t care about being seen as “scary,” like a monarchy. This was a pleasant surprise, and I appreciate how this setup forces law and power to be shared with the state government.

The aspect that stood out to me the most was the Bedrock Principles the Supreme Court established

regarding the First Amendment. I’ve seen, in smaller situations, people try to “abuse” their First Amendment rights, and I never thought much about it other than that it seemed wrong how they were justifying their actions through this amendment. Now that I understand the three Bedrock Principles, I can see how important they are in outlining that the First Amendment can’t protect people’s actions that are clearly wrong.

Overall, the video made me feel more at ease with the Supreme Court and helped me realize that the Federal Government is more self-aware than I initially thought. I like how they attempt to limit their own power and avoid coming off like a monarchy, especially considering early Americans were trying to escape government systems like that. Although the American Government is far from perfect, I feel better and more educated after watching this video.