The American Supreme Court: The Politicization of the Nation's Highest Court

What is the American Supreme Court? Many would argue that it is the weakest branch of government. Those many are not entirely wrong but they are not completely correct either. Yes, the Court lacks the power of the purse or the sword but the American people still ask the Court to answer crucial questions in regards to our most venerated legal document: the Constitution of the United States of America. Many of these questions are crucial social issues that neither the Presidency nor Congress, two elected branches of government, could find an answer to. And many of the issues rose before the Supreme Court crosscut along social, economic and political lines. So why then is a non-elected branch of government asked to answer such crucial questions? The reason I posit is that the Court chooses to answer these important questions. Thus the Court injects itself into American political life. For court to do this is highly irregular but the American Supreme Court is no ordinary court. History gives a very clear picture of an active Court thrusting itself into American politics. The following analyzes only a small fraction of the political history of the Supreme Court and hopes to answer one question: Is the American Supreme Court a political branch of government?...