Supreme Court Power (right to privacy)

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The Supreme Court is a peculiar organization in American politics.  Our representative democratic government specifically reserves substantial authority for a judicial body that is not elected or subject to popular recall. 

The Supreme Court has substantial authority for a judicial body that is not elected or subject to popular recall and I believe that the Supreme Court has shown time and time again that it has the up-most intentions on using this authority wisely.  

“Above the west portico of the Supreme Court building are inscribed the words EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW.  At the opposite end of the building above the east portico, are the words JUSTICE THE GUARDIAN OF LIBERTY.” (Janda, Berry, and Goldman, 2008: 433).  The Supreme Court is faced every day with the incredible task of upholding the Constitution and making sure that both justice and freedom are the basis for every decision they make.  On average, the Supreme Court only accepts between 110-130 cases a year, that’s between 1-2% of all cases proposed to them.  Of those 110-130 cases, nearly every one of them has gone through both State and Federal courts to reach the Supreme Court’s docket.  A case usually makes it to the Supreme Court level because it touches on issues that are not clearly defined in the Constitution and it is up to the Supreme Court to interpret that particular issue in a manner they see best fit to uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of American Citizens.  

“The justices of the Supreme Court exercise real political power” (Janda, Berry, and Goldman, 2008: 440), and some assume that they just attempt to stamp their own policy views on the cases they review but for a case to reach the Supreme Court’s docket it must pose difficult choices and because the justices are grappling with conflict on a daily basis, they most likely have well-defined ideologies that reflect their values.  The Supreme Court is the final stop for cases and although they are faced with the incredibly tough task of trying to interpret the Constitution into law, just over 56% of their final decisions have agreed with majority public opinion in the past ten.

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Because the Supreme Court confronts issues freighted with deeply felt social values, its decisions have sometimes influenced beyond immediate parties in dispute.  An example of this is the interpretation of the right to privacy.  The right to privacy is a fundamental right established in the Bill of Rights by way of the Constitution.  There are three cases that stick out in Supreme Court history that helped establish this right, the first of which is the case of Griswold v. Connecticut.

Griswold v. Connecticut was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution protected a right to ...

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