The Supreme Court of the United States is the most influential establishment in the freedom of a body of people in the entire world. Those appointed to be justices on the court have a responsibility to uphold the law and preserve the union we know as America.
Many Chief Justices have been appointed by presidents over the years to suit the presidents' own ends in politics, but most Chief Justices go on to forge their own paths as they are responsible to the Law alone. Many say being appointed is like winning the lottery in how rare it is, but an extraordinary honor nonetheless.
John Marshall, the first appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, ensured that it rested on the shoulders of the Supreme Court to draw the boundaries of the Law as sole interpreters of the Constitution in the historic Marbury v. Madison case establishing judicial review.
Prior to the 14th Amendment established after the Civil War and in response to the Dred Scott case, the line "We the People" did not mean everyone in the country, nor everyone even after the Amendment. The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to African Americans, but women still had almost 100 years to go before they were granted the same right.
The Supreme Court avoids playing political sides and prefers to respond to the cases brought to them in a strictly legal attitude rather than on a fundamental level. It is not their job to choose a side, but pass judgement based on the parameters of the Constitution. Refusing a case, contrary to popular opinion, does not mean that the court ruled one thing or upheld another. It simply means that they found no constitutional issue in the case.
Once the court proceedings have finished and the conversation, sometimes one-sided, between the judges and attorneys has ended, the judges publish their decision in an opinion piece to be released to the media. The media then disseminates the information to the public for all Americans to read. Whether or not anyone agrees is up to them.
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