Anchoring Down Our Freedom

Robyn Pitt
Mar 1, 2017
2 min read

Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.

The people of America were guaranteed rights, privileges, and immunities of Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection

The ability to be apart of the Supreme Court Justice, whether dealing with petitions, to the "family" mentality between the members of the Supreme Court and how they shake hands with each other before every case to ensure the friendship and respect between one other stays.

The topic discussed in the two videos was the 14th Amendment. Section one of the 14th Amendment was revised and is constantly discussed even to this day, solely because of the way it discusses how a person of the United States should be treated. The bottom of section one actually states "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." This is pretty self explanatory as no state is allowed to rob a citizen of the United States from their God given writes and the writes given to them by the constitution. This was brought up as the video states, with the court order of Dred Scott and whether he was a freed man capable of making his own decisions but the Supreme Court ruled that since he was brought to the US as a slave and sold into slavery he had no right to be an American citizen and after a 7-2 decision by the court was thrown in jail. This was started a series of Supreme Court cases that would, looking back on it, shape the future of the United States in a racist way.

The Supreme Court has a huge responsibility every time they take the stand for a case as each case has the possibility to change the reputation as well as the moral United States. The fate of the well being of a nation so often rests on the shoulders of 9 individuals. And it is through the previous justices that they can learn and improve on their decision making to help make America the amazing country it is known to be.