“Hear ye! Hear ye! All rise for the Court is now open and in session.” These are the words I heard before walking into the Michigan Supreme Court as a Justice. My black judge’s robe billowed gallantly behind me as I walked down the center aisle of the court room along with my other fellow justices to the bench. After a week of preparation--visiting a legal library, writing amicus briefs and debating, meeting a circuit court judge, talking with the plaintiff and the defendant attorney, and constructing an opinion to present at the end of the case--the big day for mock trial had arrived. Despite my official and professional appearance comprised of a judge’s robe and a manilla folder, I was ecstatic to roleplay a Michigan Supreme Court Justice for a real civil case that had been before the Supreme Court and was still in the process of receiving a final decision. This experience made me wish that every American could understand and be a part of what the Constitution has created, but then I realized we are already being influenced by the precepts of the Constitution. So, when something is real...why pretend? In 1787, a groundbreaking event was scheduled in Philadelphia disturbing acres of untilled …show more content…
This allows for new interpretations which could affirm or refute the law’s original premise. Interestingly, not coincidentally, you do not have to know or be a judge or lawyer to understand or have the judicial branch impact your life. As a citizen 18 years old or older, you can be a part of a court case without a formal law degree or without taking one legal class or even stepping foot on a law school’s ground by fulfilling your duty as a juror. And as a juror you have as much power as the judge. A jury truly shows that the government is “for the people and by the