The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the land and the head of judicial branch of our government. It for the most part gets the least amount of attention compared to the executive and legislative branches but itself wields a great deal of power of its own and it a large check on the power of both branches. For a quick brake down for the court for those know my not be all too familiar with the judiciary listen up. The Supreme Court is make up of nine justices, the justices are chosen by the President and are vetted by the Senate Judiciary committee and then voted and approved by the whole Senate. The President gets to pick a new justice if a current justice retires or dies, this is because being appointed is a life long term with many staying until their death. In the formation of the Judiciary Congress set up the Federal court system and created 13 judicial districts (also call circuit courts). Along with setting up the Supreme Court with the original 6 justices, 1 chief justices and 5 associates. This number has changed over time and settled to the present total of nine in 1869. The power to increase the number of justices on the supreme Court is in the hands of the U.S. President. This is usually used to balance the power of the two sides on the court and is known as court packing.

The current Supreme Court is majority conservative with 5 of the 9 being appointed by Republican Presidents. One of right leaning side we have Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito appointed by George W. Bush, Justice Clarence Thomas appointed by George H.W. Bush, then Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh appointed by Donald Trump. Then one the left leaning side we have Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Stephen Breyer appointed by Bill Clinton, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan appointed by Barack Obama. Even with the conservative majority the court is still fairly even with Chief Justice Roberts sometimes being a swing vote for both sides.

To Presidents the Supreme Court is very important, a President can only be elected to 8 years but will a court appointment their impact on the nation will last for decades. This is way it was such an important issue that came up in the 2016 election on who would get to filled the late Justice Antonin Scalia who died February 13^th, 2016. President Obama was quick to name Merrick Garland as his pick to fill the vacant set, but Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell saw a problem. He stated there was precedent to not take any Supreme court nominations in a Presidential election year and to let the winner of the election filled the seat. At the time it was either going to be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump making the choice and the American people had to make their decision. McConnell’s decision got a lot of blow back from the Democrats but was able to block the Garland nomination letting the future President make the decision.

Donald Trump went on and won the Presidency in 2016 and with that the chance to name his own nominee to the Supreme Court. During this campaign he wanted to emphasize transparency and release a list of judges that we would consider for the Supreme Court seat. This was the first time a presidential candidate had given a list of candidates during a campaign, he stuck to his word and did pick from his released listed. President Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch of the 10^thCircuit on January 31, 2017. There was much resentment on the left about Trump getting the pick, but for the most part of the nomination process was fairly smooth and was confirmed by the Senate on April 7, 2017. The following year on June 27, 2018 Justice Kennedy was retiring from the Supreme court, meaning Trump would have another appointment. From his list he nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh on July 9, 2018 of the D.C. Circuit. This nomination received so much more backlash from democrats furriest that Trump got another pick, and soon a scandal to come. During the nomination process a woman named Dr. Ford accused Judge Kavanaugh of rapping her more than 30 years ago in high school. She testified before the Senate Judiciary committee where she put forth a very emotional story but, in the end, there was no physical evidence against Kavanaugh. He would be confirmed by the Senate on October 6, 2018.

In 2019 there could be more change to come for the court, Justice Ginsburg’s health is a big question mark after breaking 3 ribs and getting cancer removed again. It is to be seen if she is physically able to continue her with her position, she has made it clean in the past that she wishes to serve as long as she can. Then another possibility of change comes with Justice Thomas the longest serving justice on the court with rumors circling that he may retire this summer to clear a path for President Trump to pill his set with a good and reliable conservative justice. In either circumstance the President is most likely to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the 7^thCircuit. Former Law professor at Norte Dame, Catholic and mother of 7 children two of which she adopted from Haiti. Barrett became a favorite among conservatives when during her confirmation hearing Senator Dianne Feinstein said “the dogma lives loudly within you and thats of concern” referring to her strong Catholic faith. Many saw this has Feinstein questioning Barrett’s ability to judge due to her faith which would go against the Constitution which says there will be no religious test. Judge Barrett is most definitely a force to be recon with and could be in the national spot light once again but next time possibly a nominee for the Supreme Court, only time will tell.

America at the moment seems very more divided between people and parties on the surface but there are still the things that connect us all our sense and beliefs in freedom, our freedom to speak and act out in response to injustice and to stand up for our believes and morals. In this blog today we are looking at two of the biggest marches in America today the March for Life and the Women’s March. These people stand up for what they believe in not just for themselves, but because they love their country and believe they have the duty to change it for the better. These two annual marches, the March for Life and the Women’s March, both represent so many things that make America great. Although the March for Life has been happening since 1973, the Women’s March is new on the scene, only starting in 2017. It has found huge traction among Americans all over the country. On the surface, one might think these two events have nothing in common, with the March for Life protesting Roe v. Wade and abortion and the Women’s March protesting the presidency of Donald Trump and standing up for women’s issues. They may have different goals and their marchers may come from different backgrounds, but these marches have the same civic spirit in bringing people together for a united cause to show our nation and its leaders that their voices will be heard. Although these marches are only a few days apart and have had different histories and backgrounds, both are designed and used to connect deeply into the emotions and desires of the American people, and through different media broadcast the national issues of our time.

To start, we look at the differences between these two events. To say they are different is an extreme understatement, as they have a vastly different history and opposing goals. The March for Life was started in 1973 by activist Nellie Gray. A year after, an annual march started to peacefully protest on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade. This was the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in America. To this day, that march is a sign of large support to overturn the case that still has a large traction in politics today. The annual Women’s March on Washington was only started in 2017 in a mass protest of the presidency of Donald Trump, since his election was seen as a step backwards after so many years of progressive thought in America. The march has been to promote not just women’s rights, ranging from equal pay to reproductive rights, but also those of minority’s ranging from the LGBTQ community to immigrants alike. In 2018 and 2019, these events were just one day apart. The drastically different messages being spread from the streets of D.C. were only separated by a few hours. Although the differences are not just what we should be looking at, but also the similarities between the two.

On the surface after seeing all the differences one might think, what in the world could these two events have in common? Upon closer analysis, it becomes clear. At the end of the day, we are all Americans, and as Americas we have the right to freedom of speech and assembly. These events are that in a nutshell, with average Americans coming together for a common cause, their shared enterprise to demand the change they believe is right. As Americans, we are allowed to disagree with the government, it’s part of being a democracy and a good one at that. This is part of our everyday life; how one wants our country to be not just today but in the future. The infrastructure of the marches also have similarities, both having presidents and boards and being funded by the donations of millions of Americans and getting attention from speeches given by political leaders and celebrities. This brings authority to both marches along with greater media attention, and this puts greater pressure on our government to make the change the people demand by putting their message right in Washington’s face. It is so important to see what is similar because it cannot always be us versus them, at the end of the day we are all Americans, we all have a voice, and we can all choose to use it in our own way.

It is truly can amazing time to be alive and America, so much technology now connects our world helping bring people together for common goals and helps bring together these huge events. I hope these events continue to inspire people to go out and try to make change in their own community because it is our civic duty and our right as Americans. One of the most important parts I hope people take away from this is that at the end of the day we are one people, one nation and we should have love and respect for each other as we move toward.

Immigration something that our nation is built on is also one of the most divisive issues of our time. It seems that America is truly split on where to go from here the two parties have drawn their lines in the sand and dug in with the American people and millions of immigrants in the middle of it all.

Over our almost 250 years as a nation we have had tens of millions of immigrants come to our shores of a better life. As time has moved forward America has become much more limited of who they want in and the number they are willing to have. This is not a new thing in the 1920’s and 30’s there were limits on the number of people allowed from specific countries in Europe that could come over. In our time with much more immigrants from Hispanic and Muslim nations America has had a change of tune toward the importance of immigration. The issue has become very dividing today with the fight over immigration reform, border security, and what will happen to illegal immigrants within out borders. It seems that many politicians have changed their minds on their previous stances and it’s a whole new game for our government.

On the Republican side, the stance is to strengthen border security which includes new barriers, increase technology and more border agents. Along with standing against giving amnesty to undocumented immigrants who are already in the U.S. Then the on the Democrat side its it fairly hard to see what their position really against what is besides just the Republicans and Trump want. Up until the election of President Trump many top Democrats including Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, and Barrack Obama were in agreement that more barriers and security was needed for the southern border. But not in the age of Trump they have changed their tune with Nancy Pelosi now Speaker of the House says that “walls are immoral” and the party for the most part is behind her against adding any new border barriers. The Democrats also want to protect the illegal immigrants including DACA or “Dreamers” who they people should stay in the United States and have a pathway to citizenship. The government was partially shut down for 35 days longest is U.S. history all on the sticking point of Trumps campaign promise of a wall. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer for the most part was able to keep their party in line and not give in the Presidents demand, the government is back in business for now what is only funded to February 8^th. In this time the two parties are in conference trying to find a more long-term solution and agreement on border security and government funding. It is very uncertain if a deal will come from these talks because we could be looking at another shut down if not or the possibility of the President declaring a nation emergency to fund building the wall along with improving technology, more agents, and humanitarian aid.

We can only hope as a nation that a compromise is made so we can move forward from this stronger and more united. Both side know the importance of immigration in our society and know it is immigrants who build this country and are the reason we are all hear unless you are Native American. Immigrants are very important to our country in many cases immigrants do the work that Americans don’t want the little and big jobs that people don’t even think about helping our nation grow and run smoothly. We will soon see what will come out of these talks and what will be said in President Trumps State of the Union on February 5^th. I think we all want to move toward from this very divisive issue that has caused a lot of pain and suffering for so many.

Now I usually like to keep my writings very natural so now to cause conflict with people but I think for this it is important to be honest. I am a moderate Republican, and no Trump was not my first choice but I do respect him as our President. I have love politics and history for much of my life and that is how I can write from both points of view because I think it is very important to understand both or you are just going to be kind of arrogant. Now this is just my take on the issues and it is completely fine to disagree with me. I do think border security is very important to our country, and more funding is needed to protect our country from crime and drugs. This includes more barrier, not a wall from sea to sea but more fences in strategic areas because much of the border has natural barriers. More technology is also need for better surveillance and drug detection with more agents needed not just at the border but also at our ports of entry where most of the drugs come in. Then most importantly immigration reform is desperately needed there are so many people wanting to come to our country and we need a new and updated system in order to deal with this demand. I am no expert or politician so these decision are up to our leaders in Washington to figure out and lead our nation forward for this crisis we find ourselves in today.