(1) It was no surprise to see that there are more men than women in the U.S. Supreme Court Justices. I find it interesting that the majority of them graduated from Harvard Law School and at some point almost all of them became a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan. She was the first woman on the Supreme Court. She served from 1981 until she retired on 2006. Justice O'Connor has continued her judicial service by hearing cases in the United States Courts of Appeals. President Barack Obama awarded Justice O'Connor with Nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom on August 12, 2009.
(2) Judicial Review is the authority of courts to declare laws passed by Congress and acts of the executive branch to be unconstitutional. I think the Judicial Review should be exercised regularly. They have made remarkable cases in the past. They used extraordinary power to strike down segregated schools in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and the anti-abortion laws of forty-seven states Roe v. Wade (1973) as well as to rule on the Michigan affirmative action cases in 2003. The Supreme Court also granted itself the power of judicial review in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803).
(3) Is it the job of the High Court to apply the Constitution in light of the intent of the framers or the Constitution or should they interpret the Constitution in light of changes in society or technology? I think this is a sticky situation. In my opinion I think it is the job of the High Court to apply the Constitution in the light of the framers. Having a strict construction and following the guidelines of the Constitution. If we changed in light of society or technology, we would be changing the Constitution every five to ten years. It would not make sense to. It is better to stick with what we know and what works then to go changing everything.
Commented on: Ashley Pelfrey
Gabby Miller
Ian Price
