Supreme Court Philosophies and Rulings - Report Example

Introduction

This paper aims at discussing on the Supreme Court and its mandate in implementing the United States Constitution. In the discussion, the right to trial in a criminal proceeding would be illustrated. The Supreme Court of the United States is regarded as the final court of appeal ("Supreme Court of the United States," 2017). Just like the other courts, the Supreme Court serves the American citizens within the boundaries and framework of litigation. It serves the citizens within the boundaries between states and the nation, between states, and between the government and citizens as outlined in the United States Constitution. As the final arbiter of the law, the American citizens are guaranteed a fair trial justice. The Supreme Court ensures that equal justice under the law is administered. The court in its capacity serves as an interpreter and guardian of the United States Constitution ("About the Court - Supreme Court of the United States," 2017). The judges of the Supreme Court are nominated by the President of the United States. However, the nominations are by the advice and consent of the Senate. The staff of the Supreme Court includes the Chief Justice, Associate Justice, Retired Justice and Court Officers. The Court Officers assist the court in the performance of its function.

The Warren Court dominated the American politics from 1953-1969. This is dominance was due to the major decisions is performed by the United States Constitution. The Warren Court was well known for its image. The Warren Court (1953-1969) established an image of the Supreme Court as powerful for social change and revolutionary body, ("04.01.07: The Legacy of the Warren Court", 2017). In its mandate to issue right to trial in criminal proceedings, the Warren Court acted by the United States Constitution. Despite the major achievements of the Warren Court, controversies regarding its operations emerged. In the mid-1950s, the Warren Court had been classified as the greatest liberal court due to its well established legal framework that aimed at granting justice to American citizens. Other statutes and rules complemented the constitutional rights of an accused. The accused enjoyed an equal justice of the right to trial. All the criminal proceedings at the Warren Court were run as mandated by the United States Constitution. The Warren Court was keen on the providence of rights to the accused and the convicts. This way, the United States Court System was able to gain trust from the American citizens.

The Burger Court dates back 1969 to 1986. This was during the tenure of Warren E. Burger as the Chief Justice of the United States (Powe Jr, 2016). In his service, Warren E. Burger transformed the United States Court system. This is evident as there were witnessed shifts, that is, liberalism to conservatism. Before the Burger Court, there existed the Warren Court which was characterized with the liberalism. After assuming power, Warren E. Burger induced changes to the operations conducted by the Supreme Court of the United States. Despite the transformations by the Chief Justice, the Supreme Court was to adhere to its mandate as outlined in the United States Constitution. In 1969, the Supreme Court had the most liberal-activist panel of Justices (Powe Jr, 2016). Among the liberal activists were Douglas, Warren, Brennan, Fortas, and Marshall (Powe Jr, 2016). Conservative dominance characterized the Burger Court. Among the numerous Court rulings, the most famous ruling involved the conflict between religious freedom and state public schools which occurred in 1972. This illustrates the right to trial in criminal proceedings. Other advancements that occurred during the reign of Warren E. Burger as the Chief Justice of the United States was the change of Warren’s Court privacy decisions to abortion. Previously, the privacy decisions to abortion recognized a constitutional right to privacy in Griswold V. Connecticut (Law, 2017). The Burger Court later on extended the right to privacy to abortion, however, there no legal changes were implemented on the right to privacy to abortion (Law, 2017). Just like the Warren Court, the Burger Court illustrated on the need to offer the accused with the right to trial in criminal proceedings.

The Rehnquist Court dates back from 1986 to 2005. A lot of transformations took place within the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice of the United States was known as William Rehnquist. Rehnquist influenced changes within the Supreme Court of the United States. For instance, he furthered on the existing conservative policies. The Rehnquist Court also limited the Congress’ ability to “commandeer” the state governments from advancing federal policies and inhibited Congress’ power to enable people to litigate state officials ("Rehnquist's Federalist Legacy," 2017). Rehnquist left a legacy on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court of the United States. This is evident in the manner in which he ‘pushed’ for reforms that existed. The Rehnquist Court served the American Citizens equally regardless of race, religious affiliations and ethnicity background. This guaranteed all citizens the right to trial in criminal proceedings.

The Roberts Court dates back from 2005 to present. The Court overtook its judicial mandate from the Rehnquist Court. The current Chief Justice of the United States is known as John Roberts. The Judiciary has not undergone major transformation since 2005. The Roberts Court is characterized with lots of technology gadget use. This is because of the new trends evident in this 21st century. The legal frameworks of the Rehnquist Court are still in use. The Chief Justice, John Robert with his able team, guarantee all the American citizens the right to trial in a criminal proceeding. This way, cases presented at the courts can be analyzed before judges giving verdicts.

Current Makeup of the United States Supreme Court

Currently, the United States Supreme Court is characterized by the use of technology (McCloskey & Levinson, 2016). The changes evident in the Court System are due to the emergence of new trends. However, the Supreme Court acts by its mandate as established in the United States Constitution. Technology has ease court procedures. For instance, the criminal proceedings are conducted at a faster rate as compared to the previous Courts (Epstein, Segal, Spaeth & Walker, 2015). In the passing of verdicts by the Supreme Court judges, technology gadgets are used. Nowadays, the accused enjoy their full rights. This is by the commission established by the Judiciary to oversee on the manner in which the accused are treated. As a result, American citizens have gained trust with the United Court System. American citizens are allowed to express their ideas and opinions about the Court System of the United States through the online platforms established. The new trends in technology have allowed accessibility of citizens on the American Courts.

Conclusion

The United States Judiciary has undergone a lot of transformation since the 20th century to the present times. This is evident from the policies and strategies set by the Chief Justices of different times. For instance, the shift of liberalism to conservatism evident during the Warren Court and Burger Court respectively. To effectively serve the American citizens the Supreme Court enjoys its independence. The United States Constitution analyzes the cases presented in the courts. Each Chief Justice of the four courts discussed above had their strategies of implementing the Constitution of the nation. The new trends have eased the operations of the courts in the United States. The current Court, the Roberts Court has not implemented new changes as opposed to the previous courts. Since 2005, the Roberts Courts seem to still the policies established by the Rehnquist Court. Most changes and shifts occurred during the Burger Courts. This is because of the difference in ideas of the Chief Justice. The Warren Court was considered as a liberal court whereas conservative dominance characterized the Burger Court. These shifts were aimed at impacting trust in the United States Court System. It is therefore evident that the right to trial in criminal proceedings was evident across all the Courts that is from the Warren Court to the recent Roberts Court.