Supreme Court of US: Roles in Society - Essay Sample

Introduction

The supreme court of the United States was established by the constitution of the United States which was implemented in 1789 under the Judicial Act of 1789 (Howard, 2019). The court was supposed to be composed of six members, though the number of justices has been nine in most part of history. The number has often been set by Congress and not the constitution. The framers of the Constitution spent more time debating on the powers the new federal government would possess including the composition of the federal congress, the balance that should be struck between the federal power and the state and the nature of the new federal executive (Howard, 2019). However, after the proposed constitution was availed to the various states for approval, the ratification debates laid more concerns and focus on the general federal power and the lack of a bill of rights.

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At the state level, the power of a court to declare a legislative act unconstitutional was just beginning to take root in the early years of the republic. The idea of democracy was to emphasize on the role of legislatures as the voice of the popular bill (Howard, 2019). In the early stages of the twentieth century, the Supreme Court was perceived as a protector of property and enterprise against progressive legislation. This kind of judicial thinking led the court to a collision course that led to President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s (Howard, 2019). In the current times, the Supreme Court reviews a myriad of issues that have led to America being referred to as a "litigious society."

Roles of the US Supreme Court in the Society

The US Supreme Court plays vital roles in society. Among its vital responsibilities is that of being an arbiter of the federal system (Cox, 1967). This involves giving the national government adequate powers while protecting the interests of the states at the same time. Therefore, the Supreme Court is called upon on a regular basis to decide on the regulation preempts of state action or federal statutes. The court is also required to decide on whether a state law impinges upon some national interests that may include the free flow of commerce among others.

The Supreme Court plays an important role in ensuring that the rights and liberties of individuals are well taken care of (Cox, 1967). In recent times, the court has been active in enforcing the guarantees of the Bill of Rights not only against the states but also against the federal government. The readings of constitutional protections by the court have been robust and assertive.

The court has also gone beyond its literal text to recognize and secure particular rights, such as the right to autonomy or privacy (Cox, 1967). Among them include the fifth and fourteenth amendment of the due process of the law. It also checks on the president's actions in line with the US Constitution. In this case, it tells the Congress if a law that was passed has been violated and is, therefore, no longer a law.

It also tells the government of a state if one of its laws goes against the laws of the Constitution, thereby protecting the entire society. The court is also the final judge regarding cases that involve the laws of Congress and the highest law of all which is the Constitution.

Landmark Decisions Made by the Supreme Court

The US judicial system has had various major court cases that have made a significant impact on the entire country and the criminal justice system. Some of the major landmark court cases include the following:

Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857

The decision made by the US Supreme Court deemed black slaves as not American citizens hence could not sue an American in the federal court. Moreover, the landmark decision considered the federal government unable to regulate slavery in the established territories after the creation of the United States ("United States Courts," 2019). In this case, Dred Scott was a black slave who was taken by his owners to a free territory where he tried to sue them for his freedom. However, he was unable to do so due to the 7-2 decision. Scott used legal precedence such as the case of Rachel v. Walker and Somerset v. Stewart to support his argument, but the ruling maintained that Scott was to remain a slave and could not sue his master for his freedom. The court cited the Fifth Amendment claiming that the government could not deprive a slaveholder of his property. This ruling resulted in further discussions and was one of the catalysts of the Civil War.

The United States v. Nixon, 1974

All the eight Supreme Court justices, in this case, ruled against President Richard Nixon and severely limited the power of a president as part of the fall-out from the Watergate scandal. The scandal took place during Nixon's presidential campaign against Senator McGoven. After Nixon won the elections, the senator was forced to investigate the crime and turned over papers and tapes with damaging evidence against the indicted men and President Nixon. However, Nixon turned over edited transcripts with the thought that the U.S. President was above any court proceedings except for impeachment. Each justice rejected President Nixon's claim that he was immune from the judicial process while knowing that the tapes presented would incriminate him. The case had a lasting impact since two weeks later, the court past down a decision that led to the resignation of President Nixon. Currently, American presidents know that they are not above the country's laws and may be answerable to the Supreme Court for their crimes ("United States Courts," 2019).

Brown v. Board of Education, 1954

This is a vital landmark case that led to an end of racial division within the US since it ruled that establishing public schools to separate white and black students were unconstitutional ("United States Courts," 2019). The decision overturned the Supreme Court's decision of 1896 regarding Plessy v. Ferguson. The decision reached was agreed unanimously with all the nine justices with the claim that separate facilities could not be considered as equal under the law. In the case, the plaintiffs argued that the educational facilities for the black students were not 'separate but equal" to those of the white students. However, the Supreme Court's argument was that educational segregation violated the constitutional rights of black students under the 14th amendment of the Equal Protection Clause. The case was significant as it led to a victory of the civil rights movement and paved the way for the black Americans to fight for their rights.

These are among many other landmark cases and court decisions that have a well-deserved place in the history of the United States as their impacts were lasting and are still visible to date.

Thurgood Marshall

The Chief justice that had the biggest impact on the protection of individual human rights through the court was Thurgood Marshall (Smentkowski, 2019). He was the first African-American justice of the Supreme Court and was instrumental in ending the legal segregation in the United States. Thurgood Marshall (2nd July 1908 to 24th January 1993) was an African-American lawyer that was later appointed as an associate justice of the supreme court in 1967 (Smentkowski, 2019). He was the first African-American to hold the position and served for 24 years until his death in 1991. He studied law on Howard University and utilized the judiciary to champion equality for African Americans as a counsel to the NAACP. Some of the cases that were argued by Thurgood Marshall include:

Smith v. Allwright (1944)

This was a landmark decision with regard to voting rights and racial segregation. The court ruled that it was not constitutional for the state to delegate its authority over elections to the Democratic Party to give room for discrimination (Smentkowski, 2019). The ruling affected the other states where the party was using the white primary rule.

Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)

This was another landmark case holding that the State-Action Doctrine includes enforcement of private contracts and the Equal Protection Clause which prohibits racially restrictive housing covenants which are unenforceable in court (Smentkowski, 2019).

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

This was another landmark decision of the US Supreme Court where the court ruled that American state laws that establish racial segregation in public schools should be deemed unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools were of equal quality.

All these cases and decisions reached by the Supreme Court under marshall's tenure aimed at fighting racial segregation and support of the Equal Protection Clause.

References

Cox, A. (1967). The Role of the Supreme Court in American Society. Scholarship.law.marquette.edu. Retrieved from https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2501&context=mulr

Howard, D. (2019). The Supreme Court Then and Now | AP US History Study Guide from The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Ap.gilderlehrman.org. Retrieved from https://ap.gilderlehrman.org/essay/supreme-court-then-and-now

Smentkowski, B. (2019). Thurgood Marshall | Biography, Supreme Court, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thurgood-Marshall

"United States Courts," (2019). Supreme Court Landmarks. United States Courts. Retrieved from https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/supreme-court-landmarks