The Supreme Court, while conceivably powerful and instituted to uphold the
Constitution, actually has little ability to harness and implement its power to protect minorities.
The opinions/rulings of the Supreme Court are not directed to the public, rather these opinions
are directed to check the other two branches of government, which are able to implement rulings
to protect minorities, if they so choose. Simply, the Court acts as a “middle man.”
The Supreme Court only has power when they strike down a law as unconstitutional and
even then their power to protect minorities is limited. When the Court does not declare
something unconstitutional they are upholding legislation, effectively agreeing with the other
two branches. When the Court hears a case and
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The Court issues an opinion but the problem
lies in that Congress can overturn this ruling via amendment or revision to the original law.
Striking down laws doesn’t give the Supreme Court ability to protect minorities, it gives the
Court power to make a ruling that is left up to Congress to accept and implement or to reject and
amend. Thus, Congress has the true power to protect minorities.
However, the sheer fact that the Supreme Court declares an opinion, whether Congress
amends it or not, is sufficient proof to the fact that the Court can protect minorities. Further, our
government is extremely divided, and has been for many decades, thus making it harder for them
to make new laws or initiate the amendment process. It doesn’t entirely matter if the Supreme
Court is/isn’t directly tied to the public, they make a ruling and it impacts the minorities,
regardless. An analogous example exhibiting the same faulty reasoning would be saying that
when someone mows their lawn, the lawn mower does all the work and the individual has no
impact on the grass being cut when surely he/she does. Similarly, it would be incorrect to