Nine people are appointed to decide the fate of our country. Their verdicts have changed the course of history within the United States, from ending segregation in schools, to establishing Miranda rights for every convict. As of recently, some have been questioning whether this powerful court is acting on its own accord. The Supreme Court has always been politicized since presidents are in charge of appointing justices, but recently our president has been benefiting greatly from their decisions. 

At the moment, the judging panel is made up of six conservative justices and three liberal.

One of the major concerns being voiced by the public is that the Supreme Court has backed up Donald Trump in evading criminal prosecution. 

An example of this was in Trump v. United States when the Supreme Court granted Trump broad immunity for actions related to his “core constitutional powers.” This case may have been fairly vague, but the pro-Trump panel of judges has ruled they are willing to stand behind our president.

Beyond the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice has given more protection to the executive branch of the government through multiple actions. One of their most controversial decisions was the censoring of key information in the Epstein files which could have incriminated the president. 

“The [present] court has definitely made decisions that support a strong executive branch which benefits the current President and how he has chosen to use his power,” said social studies teacher Janelle Cinquini. “Those decisions are precedent setting and they will open up all future presidents to use the power the courts have afforded the current one.”

These concerning moves by our justice department, as well as the Supreme Court dredge up concerns among many. Our government has three branches to ensure that one group doesn’t gain too much control, but when one of those branches defaults to another, in this case the judicial to the executive, it can lead to a dangerous concentration of power. 

“If, in the future, the court was faced with similar situations but with a Democratic president and their decision was to shut that President down, then I think that would raise legitimate questions about the politicization of the court” said Cinquini. 

As of right now, which the citizen’s arm of justice disabled, all we can do is share our own voices and watch as the story continues to unfold.