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The only way, it would seem, to affect the kind of change that supporters of the initiative want is to amend the state constitution, effectively changing the law of the land. Supporters argue that this is the only viable option left, especially in light of the fact that marijuana is less dangerous the alcohol -- a legal drug -- and that the war on drugs has netted no significant results save $1 trillion spent since 1970 and 1.6 million people arrested yearly, half for marijuana possession (Gathright). Thus, in the case of marijuana we are faced with public policy that aggressively prosecutes anyone who uses the drug, at great cost to the state, without any discernible impact on usage, and when other more dangerous drugs are marketed freely.
Under these conditions, it seems wholly appropriate to attempt to amend the state constitution to reflect the people's acceptance of marijuana as…
Works Cited
Gathright, Alan. "The Colorado Marijuana Initiative." Rocky Mountain News. 29 Dec. 2005. 21 Nov. 2007 http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4348438,00.html .
Constitutional Amendments
Effective strategies after the 13th and 14th amendments
The 13th amendment to the constitution was widely welcome by many Americans and the world at large as it gave the surety of freedom from slavery in the legal standing of it. The most famous and important section of the Declaration of Independence read that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable ights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This was an assurance that the freedom of each person living in America would be guaranteed and that no person will live under the command or control of another person due to the race or color. Further, the 14th amendment came into place to entrench and ensure the equality among the Americans (Hole ., 2001). It was one of the…
References
Hole R.,. "The American Declaration of Independence of July 4th, 1776." 2001. Web
October 16, 2014 from http://www.historytoday.com/robert-hole/american-declaration-independence-july-4th-1776
Johnson K.V. & Watson E. "The W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington Debate: Effects upon African-American Roles in Engineering and Engineering Technology, 2014. Web. October 16, 2014 from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JOTS/v30/v30n4/pdf/johnson
National Archives & Records Administration. The Emancipation Proclamation January
10th Amendment and how it relates to the states being controlled by the Federal Govt. On the legalization of pot..
Marijuana in the context of the Tenth Amendment
There is much controversy regarding the Constitution and the power it has over the people, taking into account that many individuals believe that the federal government does not have the Constitutional authority to prevent cities and states from legalizing the use of marijuana (regardless of the purpose of the substance's use). The possession of Marijuana is banned under federal law. However, when considering that the prohibition era saw alcohol banned under a Constitutional amendment, it would appear that a federal law should not be considered enough to prevent states or cities to legalize the use of marijuana. A great deal of individuals (both smokers and non-smokers) believe that the federal government is wrong in trying to force individuals to take on particular…
Works cited:
Ducat, Craig, R. "Rights of the Individual," (Cengage Learning, 01.02.2008)
Mack, Alison, and Joy, Janet, "Marijuana As Medicine?: The Science Beyond the Controversy," (National Academies Press, 07.12.2000)
Rahtz, Howard, "Drugs, Crime and Violence: From Trafficking to Treatment," (Hamilton Books, 16.08.2012)
Sowell, Thomas, "Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays," (Hoover Press, 09.11.2006)
It is the pursuit of happiness that the Constitution guarantees with respect to a person's right to pursue a free life. The words are written this way (Von Eckardt, Ursula M., 1959, p. 2):
e hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are empowered by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
These words should dissuade the most adamant lawmaker from proposing, or creating a federal law that would ban same-sex unions. Likewise, those seeking same-sex unions should look long and hard at the legalities involved in what they are seeking. "One way to destroy the spirit of anything is to sanctify that thing. Sanctify the code, the institution, the constitution, or the doctrine, and it is thereby arrested. It becomes unchangeable, incapable of development, resistant to new influences, rigid (Maclver, R.M., 1955,…
Works Cited
Stewart, James Brewer, ed. The Constitution, the Law, and Freedom of Expression, 1787-1987. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987. Questia. 15 Oct. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=105724725 .
A www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9863711
Von Eckardt, Ursula M. The Pursuit of Happiness in the Democratic Creed: An Analysis of Political Ethics. New York: Praeger, 1959. Questia. 15 Oct. 2007 http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9863747 .
The NSA had been illegally investigating several journalists and even violating their privacy by monitoring their telephone use through systems and capabilities designed for use against terrorist suspects only.
Fourth Amendment constitutional rights prohibit any such use of surveillance without judicial authorization, typically, a search warrant or wire tap warrant issued after a formal presentation of evidence and the establishment of probable cause, as required by the original text of the Fourth Amendment (Schmalleger, 2008). According to the accounts published, the NSA specifically targeted journalists known to have been critical of the presidential administration of George . Bush, which may raise other significant constitutional problems even beyond the Fourth Amendment issues (Scmalleger, 2008).
Possible Solutions to Balancing Effective Counterterrorism and the Fourth Amendment:
As pointed out by national security expert Randall Larsen (2007), one of the main problems with the so-called ar on Terror as conceived by the former presidential…
Works Cited:
Larsen, R. (2007). Our Own Worst Enemy: Asking the Right Questions About Security to Protect You, Your Family, and America. New York: Grand Central Publishing.
Schmalleger, F. (2008). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st
Century. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Many conservatives believe that the Anti-
Establishment Clause prohibits only the actual establishment of a national religion in the manner of the English Crown. To them, the right to freedom of religion is all that the First Amendment guarantees, not the right to be free from religion (Dershowitz, p. 202).
Luckily for those who consider themselves atheists and agnostics, the Supreme
Court has interpreted the First Amendment to include the separation of church and state much more broadly, because under the conservative interpretation, the government might, in principle, be able to require some religious affiliation of its citizens provided it did not specify any particular religious faith. That issue has arisen numerous times and in many different forms over the years, including whether or not public schools may require recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance with the words "under God" or "moments of private reflection" intended for prayer during school…
REFERENCES
Dershowitz, a.M. (2002) Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age. New York: Little Brown.
Friedman, L.M. (2005) a History of American Law. New York: Touchstone. Haynes, C., Chaltain, S., Glisson (2006) First Freedoms: A Documentary History of First Amendment Rights in America. London: Oxford University Press
Personhood Amendment in Mississippi
Judith Jarvis Thomson's essay "A Defense of Abortion" and the proposed Mississippi Constitutional Amendment
In Mississippi, a bill that advocated an extreme position on abortion rights was submitted to voters. It was ultimately rejected, despite the fact that Mississippi is a very conservative state. The constitutional amendment would have declared a fertilized human egg to be a legal person, not only equating abortion with murder under the law, but also making certain forms of birth control illegal (Eckholm 2011). It would have made using birth control, including IUDs and morning-after pills, which operate by detaching the fertilized embryo from the mother's womb, a legal for of murder.
Previous regulations of abortion placed restrictions upon when and where women could get abortions, or created parental consent laws. This amendment simply stated when life began: at fertilization. Even embryos in fertility clinics could be destroyed, according to the…
References
Eckholm, Eric. "Push for 'personhood' amendment." The New York Times. October 26, 2011.
[2 Dec 2011].
http://www.nytimes.com /2011/10/26/us/politics/personhood-amendments-would-ban-nearly-all-abortions.html?_r=1
Th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." (13 Amendment, Article 1, "U.S. Constitution")
Abraham Lincoln's 1863 "Emancipation Proclamation" stated "that all person's held as slaves' within the rebellious states 'are, and henceforward shall be free.'" ("Featured Documents") Many claim that Lincoln's real motivation in freeing the slaves was to politically outmaneuver the south internationally; to make the war about slavery thus keeping the Europeans from supporting the South. However, Lincoln's support of, and the adoption of the 13th amendment in 1865, seems to prove this wrong; Lincoln's real motivation was the end of slavery in the United States. But Lincoln issued his "Emancipation Proclamation" in the middle of a war, using his emergency war powers, and it was limited…
Works Cited
Feagin, Joe. "Excluding Blacks and Others From Housing: The Foundation of White Racism" Cityscape. Web 14 May 2011. http://users.wfu.edu/yamaned/teaching/151/docs/feagin.pdf
"Featured Documents: The Emancipation Proclamation." National Archives and Records Administration. Web 14 May 2011.
www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_proclamation/
"The United States Constitution - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." Index Page -- the U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net. Web 14 May 2011. http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html
4th Amendment's evolution and history, together with the "search and seizure" law.
4th Amendment Background
People's rights of being secure in personal effects, papers, houses and persons, against unreasonable seizures and searches, may not be breached, nor shall any warrants be issued, but in case of probable cause, which is supported by affirmation or oath, and describes, particularly, the place that must be searched, or the things or individuals that should be seized, under the 4th Amendment. Like most fields in U.S. law, the English common law forms the principal basis of the 4th Amendment. Broadly, it was created for limiting governmental powers and their capacity of enforcing legal actions upon citizens (4th Amendment - constitution -- Laws.com). Amendment IV was implemented in immediate reaction to the historical writ of assistance's abuse. This writ was a sort of general governmental search warrant employed in the American evolution's era. Amendment IV…
References"
(n.d.). Annenberg Classroom. The Right to Protection against Illegal Search and Seizure. Retrieved April 27, 2016, from http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/Files/Documents/Books/Our%20Rights/Chapter_15_Our_Rights.pdf
(n.d.). Arizona Defense Attorney James E. Novak Law Blog -- Legal discussions and observations with Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney James E. Novak. Requirements and Exceptions to Lawful Search Warrants in Arizona -- Legal discussions and observations with Arizona Criminal Defense Attorney James E. Novak. Retrieved April 26, 2016, from http://blog.novakazlaw.com/2013/01/requirements-and-exceptions-to-lawful-search-warrants-in-arizona/
Boyd v. United States, 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
(n.d.). Conservative Policy Research and Analysis. Guide to the Constitution. Retrieved April 25, 2016, from http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/4/essays/144/searches-and-seizures
Foundation
An extensive period in US history has witnessed specific segments of the nation's population (such as females, Blacks, etc.) deprived of voting rights. The female suffrage movement or struggle for winning voting rights for females continued throughout the major part of the 1800s and into the early 1900s[footnoteRef:1]. While a few states allowed female participation in elections, both as contesters and voters, before the 19th Amendment's enforcement, its ratification on 18th August, 1920 ensured voting rights were extended to every woman in America[footnoteRef:2]. Ever since its ratification, US society has universally acknowledged female voting rights. [1: William W. Hodes, "Women and the Constitution" Rutgers L. Rev. 25 (1970): 26.] [2: Carol Lynn Yellin, "COUNTDOWN IN TENNESSEE" American Heritage 30, no. 1 (1978): 12.]
The American Constitution's Nineteenth Amendment accords an equal right to both males and females to vote. It asserts that the federal and state governments shall not…
Rowan County, North Carolina had a prayer policy that was aligned with Christian norms as well as the prevailing values of freedom and liberty in the United States. The policy pertained to the opening ceremonies before public meetings, which include the Pledge of Allegiance. During these meetings in Rowan County, individual commissioners were offered the opportunity to pray in whatever manner they preferred, have a moment of silence instead, or abstain from either. No commissioner or member of the public was required to pray; it was a voluntary provision. Yet federal courts recently ruled that Rowan County’s practices violated the First Amendment of the Constitution, particularly the Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” (“Introduction to the Establishment Clause,” (n.d.). Even a cursory reading of the Establishment Clause shows that prohibiting commissioners from praying during…
ar Powers Act of 1973 was an important piece of legislation during the Vietnam ar. The intention, per the wording of the act itself, was "to fulfill the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States and insure that the collective judgment of both the Congress and the President will apply to the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities, or into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicate by the circumstances, and to the continued use of such forces in hostilities in such situations" (ar). The Act required that if armed forces were sent into a nation, Congress had to be informed within 48 hours. Additionally, armed forces could not remain within a nation for more than 60 days without a declaration of war.
Those in support of the law promised the American citizens that the Act would prevent "another Vietnam" and restore…
Works Cited:
Carter, Stephen L. "The Constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution." Virginia Law Review.
1984. Print.
Grimmett, Richard. War Powers Resolution Presidential Compliance. Washington, D.C.:
Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, 2008. Print.
ainwright v Gideon
In 1961, a man named Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested for stealing coins and alcohol from a Panama City, Florida, pool hall. He was a poor man and could not afford a lawyer. Following his conviction, he served five years in prison. During that time, he sent a handwritten letter to the Supreme Court in which he explained that he had been forced to fend for himself in court, without legal representation. Because of Mr. Gideon, the Supreme Court justices declared that criminal defendants have a right to legal aid (Gest). It was a right decision by the Supreme Court. The United States was founded on the principle that all men should be equal. By providing criminal defense to the poor, the court is leveling the playing field so that everyone receives the same fair treatment. Since crimes are committed disproportionately by the poor, the Supreme Court's…
Works Cited
Donaghue, Erin. "Defending Dzhokhar Tsarnaev: Renowned Attorney Judy Clarke Will Fight for Bombing Suspect's Life." CBS News. 2 May 2013. Web. Retrieved 7 May 2013 from http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57582573-504083/defending - dzhokhar-tsarnaev-renowned-attorney-judy-clarke-will-fight-for-bombing-suspects-life/
Gest, Ted. "One Poor Man's Legacy." U.S. News & World Report 114.11 (1993): n. pag. Web. 7 May 2013.
"The Right to Counsel." Sixth Amendment Center. N.p., 2013. Web. 07 May 2013. .
Staples, Robert. "White Power, Black Crime, and Racial Politics." Black Scholar 41.4 (2011): 31-41. Web. 7 May 2013.
" Still, a judge has ordered the State Board of Education "not to enforce the new law while a suit filed by the father of a public school student proceeds" (Keen, 2007). Barry Lynn of the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State said the judge realizes "...that there is no motive for a moment of silence except a religious one." The First Amendment comes into play here because it prohibits government from promoting religion.
TO: (Gun control): Recently the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that prevents the use of lead ammunition in California Condor - a severely endangered species - recovery zones. The law thus requires hunters of game like deer and coyote to use copper bullets, because when lead bullets kill a deer, for example, the hunter normally leaves the guts of the carcass on the ground, condors feed on those guts, and if…
Works Cited
Abrams, Jim. (2007). House Ok's right to protect sources: White House rips media shield bill.
Boston Globe. Associated Press report. Retrieved Nov. 15, 2007, at http://www.boston.com .
Environmental News Network. (2007). Schwarzenegger Approves Condor Protection Bill.
Retrieved Nov. 15, 2007, at http://www.enn.com/press_releases/2201/print .
Outside of court, this takes place by way of affidavits and depositions (Sanders, 2007).
The Amendment's final part assures the accused person the right to aid of counsel. Legal representation was once a benefit only accessible to the rich. The poor were frequently left to their own devices in English courts. While defendants in America can decide to represent themselves, the right to counsel gives one the right to gratis legal help. In criminal trials, poor defendants are given legal counsel. Nationwide, community legal services, legal aid societies and other factions help the poor deal with civil issues. No matter how well the founding fathers' accomplished on their plan, our judicial system is not ideal. It is well-known that injustices and frustrations are daily legal incidences. Even so, the framers made enormous progress for daily citizens through the 6th Amendment to make sure American courts truly are the people's courts…
References
Sixth Amendment. (2011). Retrieved April 4, 2011, from Web site:
http://www.lectlaw.com/def2/s107.htm
Sanders, Monica. (2007). The People's Court: Understanding the 6th Amendment. Retrieved April 4, 2011, from Web site: http://www.legalzoom.com/us-law/equal-protection/peoples-court-understanding
The 6th Amendment. (2011). Retrieved April 4, 2011, from Web site: http://www.revolutionary-
"
The reality is that most jurisdictions have, in effect, changed this requirement by designating specific courts as small claims courts, where disputes are not settled by juries. Moreover, even in federal-level litigation, the amount in controversy required for most suits means that many litigants lack standing to proceed in a federal court, much less have a jury trial. What this amendment demonstrates is that the process for amending the Constitution has failed to keep up with the changes that are warranted by that process. To work around the fact that the modern court system would grind to a halt if every person with a twenty dollar dispute were entitled to a jury trial, the Courts have interpreted this amendment to mean that people are entitled to a jury trial if they would have been entitled to one under the common law. However, that is clearly not adhering to the…
References
Jack M. Balkin, the Constitution in the National Surveillance State, Minnesota Law Review
93:1 (2008), available at http://www.minnesotalawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Balkin_MLR.pdf
Allen Clifton, a Reality Many Americans Don't Want to Admit: Our Constitution is Outdated
and Broken, Forward Progressives, (Jul. 20, 2013), http://www.forwardprogressives.com/a-reality-many-americans-dont-want-to-admit-our-constitution-is-outdated-and-broken/
The freedom of speech has also come under attack, most recently when a reporter was jailed for refusing to expose her sources. The amendment mentions "free exercise" of the right to say what one wishes or print what one wishes; however, if a person was to publicly endorse the assassination of the President, that person would be quickly arrested and most likely thrown in jail, an act that stands in deep conflict with the idea of "free exercise."
The Second Amendment has also become the center of attention regarding a person's right to own firearms and issues related to gun control. The National Rifle Association (NRA) highly endorses the 2nd Amendment and goes to great lengths to lobby Congress for less restrictive measures related to owning specific kinds of firearms, such as machine guns, AK-47's and other high-powered weapons. With handguns, a good number of legal efforts in recent years…
First Amendment rights are not absolute, particularly in regards to advertising. For example, there has been a great deal of pressure to regulate advertising directed at children that promotes unhealthy junk food. "There is a legal test for judging whether commercial speech qualifies for protection under the First Amendment. Called the Central Hudson test, it says that such speech must be truthful and not 'actually or inherently misleading'" and it has been argued that much of commercial advertising targeting children takes advantage of a credulous consumer's inability to tell the difference between truth and fiction (Bittman, 2012, par.11). In this instance, however, the objections raised to our new advertising campaign are not targeted at children. Rather, the concern is merely that children may see inappropriate material, even if it is not intended that they purchase the product.
In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed censorship of certain types…
It would also be highly recommended that there are designated buffer zones between the convention and any designated First Amendment Zones. Additionally, these zones must be away from any other public areas. If they are too close to public areas, like malls, they may inadvertently disrupt the flow of the public and endanger passersby.
There are also recommendations for general policy of the possible disruption of protest groups at the DNC event. If officers were to commence in disrupting the protest groups, it would be absolutely necessary to show they were acting in accordance with the misdemeanor violation of Section 870.02 in the 2002 Florida Statutes. Essentially, this would mean that officers would have to prove more than three individuals were acting in a way to disturb the peace, rather than to peacefully assemble. It is true, "no actual breach of peace needs to take place" (Unlawful Assembly Dispersal Order).…
References
Independent Review Panel. (2004). The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Inquiry Report.
M6. (2013). "First Amendment Zones."
M6. (2013). "Unlawful assembly to commit a breach of the peace."
2nd Amendment to U.S. Constitution
Laws regarding the use and safety of weapons in the United States date back to
1837, when Georgia's ban on handguns was ruled unconstitutional. Subsequent legislation has been scrutinized by courts -- including the High Court -- and in numerous cases the rulings have supported a citizens' right to keep and bear arms except in certain cases. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the last decision offered
by the Supreme Court in 2007, a law banning handguns was struck down based
on the Second Amendment. How this ruling will ultimately affect states and local governments remains to be seen, but this paper carefully reviews opinions from the majority and minority on the Court. This paper also presents what the Court considers enumerated rights and how the gun lobby might be impacted by the ruling -- as well as those advocating for gun safety. Scholarly, peer-reviewed…
By enacting the Black Codes, starting in 1865, following the 13th Amendment, however, and by giving birth, in 1866, to the Ku Klux Klan and its reign of terror over the freedmen, the southern states successfully circumvented the actual enjoyment by blacks of most of the freedoms granted them by the 13th Amendment.
Primary ources
The Constitution of the United tates of America [Article II]. A History of the American People.
Ed. Harry J. Carman et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Knopf, 1960. 776.
Hill, Elias. "Testimony before Congressional Committee Investigating the Ku Klux Klan, 1871." Reading the American Past: elected Historical Documents. Ed. Michael
Johnson. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. New York: Bedford, 2002. 9-13.
Jefferson, Thomas. The Declaration of Independence. A History of the American People.
Ed. Harry J. Carman et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Knopf, 1960. 759.
Mississippi Black Code, November 1865." Reading…
Sources
Black Codes in the Former Confederate States." December 15, 2004. http://www.civilwar home.com/blackcodes.htm>. 5 pages.
Brinkley, Douglas. History of the United States. New York: Viking, 2002. 237-8.
Carman, Harry J. et al., Ed. A History of the American People. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York:
Knopf, 1960. 738.
S. Constitution began yet another short-lived experiment with prohibition, only this time it was on a national level. hen it went into effect in January 1920, efforts to repeal the 18th Amendment began almost immediately. In a whirlwind of legislative activity, the 21st Amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states in record time. In their haste to repeal the 18th Amendment, though, lawmakers failed to consider the impact of section two as it might apply to interstate commerce in the Age of Information, but given the heated nature of the debate at the time, they can perhaps be forgiven this legislative oversight in the 21st century. All in all, though, the research clearly showed that the U.S. Constitution remains a living document that is capable of responding to changes in American society.
orks Cited
Bryce, Jenny. (2000). "Prohibition in the United States." History Review, 37.
Eng, Gordon. (2003).…
Works Cited
Bryce, Jenny. (2000). "Prohibition in the United States." History Review, 37.
Eng, Gordon. (2003). "Old Whine in a New Battle: Pragmatic Approaches to Balancing the Twenty-First Amendment, the Dormant Commerce Clause, and the Direct Shipping of Wine." Fordham Urban Law Journal 30(6):1849.
Kyvig, David E. Law, Alcohol, and Order: Perspectives on National Prohibition. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985.
Livingston, William S. Federalism and Constitutional Change. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956.
District of Columbia v. Heller Case Brief
Case Facts: The District of Columbia Code prohibited carrying an unregistered firearm and banned the registration of handguns through its provisions. However, the provisions granted the chief of police the liberty to grant one-year licenses for handguns. Additionally, the Code required individuals owning legitimately registered firearms to keep them unloaded and disassembled or with locked trigger unless they were in business places or being utilized for legalized recreational activities.
A special police officer in Washington, D.C., Dick Anthony Heller, was permitted to carry a handgun while on duty. He applied for a one-year registration license from the city of Washington for a handgun he wanted to keep at home. Based on the provisions of the District of Columbia Code, Heller's application was rejected. Consequently, he sued the District of Columbia on the premise that the provisions of this Code violated the Second Amendment.…
violation of the student's Constitutional rights
The issue is whether there has been a possible violation of a student's "constitutional right to education" due to the fact that during the time she had to stay in the cage based on Mr. Billups' order she had to miss all of her other classes for that day. R: The rule is that unlike various state constitutions the federal Constitution does not contain a "right to education." The U.S. Supreme Court addressed itself to this issue in 1973 in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez. In this decision the U.S. Supreme Court held that education is neither explicitly nor impliedly guaranteed as a "fundamental right" in the U.S. Constitution (Constitutional Requirements Governing American Education -- Federal constitutional Requirements, State Constitutional Issues, Conclusion, p. 1). Therefore, a constitutional right to education of student Li could not have been violated by Mr. Billups. I:…
The government has no right turning a blind eye to criminals who possess arms, allowing innocent citizens to live unprotected in their own homes. It is far too late to restrict access to guns, anyway. The market has already opened its arms to criminals who have stashes of weapons. Those weapons aren't going anywhere and so American citizens must have unrestricted access to the weapons that can protect them from being killed by criminals.
Gun control also prevents objective education surrounding the proper use of guns. If young adults are taught how to properly store and use a firearm they are less likely to use them indiscriminately. espect for guns helps create a more educated, enlightened society instead of one that cowers in fear from the very thought of a weapon that has been around for centuries.
The original purpose of the Second Amendment was to empower the citizens of…
References
Agresti, J.A. (1999). "Gun Control. "Just Facts. Retrieved May 15, 2008 at http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Website retrieved May 15, 2008 at http://www.bradycampaign.org/
Gun Control." Almanac of Policy Issues.Retrieved May 15, 2008 at http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/guns.shtml
National Rifle Association. Retrieved May 15, 2008 at http://www.nra.org/home.aspx
The main Woolworth's store was already on strike, and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) was threatening to escalate the strike to all of the stores in Detroit." (Cobble, 2003)
Myra had been nicknamed the: "attling elle of Detroit" by media in the Detroit area because Myra is said to have:.." relished a good fight with employers, particularly over the issues close to her heart. A lifelong member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) she insisted, for example, on sending out racially integrated crews from the union's hiring hall, rejecting such standard employer requests as 'black waiters only, white gloves required." (Cobble, 2003) Myra was involved in many more organized protests and strikes and is stated to "consider herself a feminists...outspoken about her commitment to end sex discrimination...lobbied against the ERA until 1972...chaired the national committee against a repeal of women-only state labor…
Bibliography
Cobble, Dorothy Sue (2003) the Other Women's Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America. Princeton University Press. Chapter One online available at http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/i7635.html
Gender, Class, Race, and Reform in the Progressive Era. By Noralee Frankel, Nancy S. Dye - Author(s) of Review: Nancy Folbre. The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Dec., 1992),
Julie Novkov, Constituting Workers, Protecting Women: Gender, Law and Labor in the Progressive and New Deal Years (2001)
Louise Newman, White Women's Rights (1999)
Fourth Amendment
For all Americans, the Fourth Amendment is an essential element of the U.S. Constitution that protects everyone's rights. This has influenced the way that the criminal justice system is interacting with defendants and the tactics that are utilized by law enforcement when conducting investigations. To fully understand how this is impacting society and legal proceedings requires studying various sources. This will be accomplished using academic information (i.e. books, case law and journal articles) to highlight the issues. In the future, this paper will contribute to a greater understanding as to how it requires maintaining a balance in protecting individual rights and giving the government effective tools for enforcing the law. (McInnis, 2009) (Lively, 1999)
Body
The Fourth Amendment is designed to provide Americans with protections against unreasonable search and seizure. It has several different provisions that have been subject to various legal interpretations to include: the use of…
References
Alvarez, A. (2010). A Reasonable Search for Constitutional Protection. UC Davis Law Review, 44, 363-371
Lively, D. (1999). Landmark Supreme Court Case. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
McInnis, T. (2009). The Evolution of the Fourth Amendment. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Orthmann, C. (2012).Criminal Justice in America. Belmont, CA: Thomason.
First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees to us freedom of speech - promises to each citizen and resident of the United States that the government will not tell us what we can or cannot say. Right?
ell, mostly. hile in general Americans are protected by the First Amendment so that we can say whatever wise or witty or stupid or offensive thing that we like. However, there are important exceptions to this general condition: Not all speech is equally protected. This paper examines one of those arenas in which greater-than-usual restrictions are placed upon what people may say and the way in which they may say it. Billboards, as a very public example of commercial speech, are restricted in ways that a person standing on a street under a billboard talking to her friend is not.
Advertising is indeed protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Advertising…
Works Cited
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/valentine.html
http://www.lawpublish.com/amend1.html
http://www.newrules.org/environment/billboard.html
http://www.scenicflorida.org/law/bbcasemetromediavsandiegoca.html
The privilege against self-incrimination originally came to pass through colonial history. It went against both the moral and physical compulsion of taking an oath to what was believed to be a vengeful God and having a pious soul. It also became a defensive weapon against society and the laws and proceedings that often took place, in that it allowed a person to insist that they did not have to and were not going to answer a particular question that was asked of them, and what was more, they did not have to answer the question because they were protected under the law.
Somewhere along the way, though, this protection that was designed for a very specific purpose began to be extended to other purposes, therefore 'watering down' the importance of the 5th amendment and making it into somewhat of a joke as opposed to a serious legal matter that can…
Bibliography
Bart v. United States. 349 U.S. 219 (1954).
Counselman v. Hitchcock. 142 U.S. 547 (1891).
Emspak v. United States. 349 U.S. 190 (1954).
Mapp v. Ohio. 367 U.S. 643; 81 S. Ct. 1684; 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961).
first amendment of the Constitution addresses both freedoms of speech and religion (Constitution Bill of Rights). ithin these two broad themes, there are various clauses (First Amendment Online). The First Amendment restricts government from passing laws aimed against free excersise of any religion, and also restricts the government from "establishing" or favoring a particular religion (First Amendment Cyber Tribune). In addition to allowing freedom of speech, the amendment also allows freedom of the press, the right to petition government, and the right to assemble (First Amendment Online).
For the purposes of this paper (and survey), I am going to focus on the issue of free speech within the context of the First Amendment. My survey consisted of 4 questions regarding speech in America. Firstly, I asked the individual if he or she believed it was a fair law. The consensus regarding this question was that the First Amendment was not…
Works Cited
1st Amendment." Grolier. (Electronic Version). Accessed 2 July 2003. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/aae/side/01amend.html
Anderson, Mary Jo. "Gay Threat to First Amendment." World Net Daily
Electronic Version). Accessed 2 July 2003. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23422
Associated Press. "Free Speech Arguments Fall on Deaf Ears." The First
PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER IN THE U.S.A.
In spite of the fact that the constitutional order puts across a series of elements from which the American public (as a whole) benefits, it is also responsible for enabling many individuals to freely express religious fanaticism through criminal acts. It is very surprising that matters in the U.S. were relatively peaceful for the last two centuries, with the recent decades marking a significant change in nation's connection to religion, especially considering that many individuals have come to associate the country with Christianity and with elements favoring the discrimination of other religions. The constitutional order is of no use to the well-being of the public in particular situations, as it can be overridden by some, regardless of the morality in their behavior.
The First Amendment of the Constitution (ratified in 1791) says that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,…
Works cited:
Colby, Thomas B. "A Constitutional Hierarchy of Religions? Justice Scalia, the Ten Commandments and the Future of the Establishment Clause," Northwestern University Law Review 100.3 (2006)
Ferris, John Robert. "Intelligence and strategy: selected essays." (Routledge, 2005).
Herman, Michael. "Intelligence services in the information age: theory and practice." (Routledge, 2001).
Posner, Richard A. "Remaking domestic intelligence." (Hoover Press, 2005).
Fourth Amendment
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized" (Cornell University Law School. N.D.). As with a preponderance of Constitutional issues the meaning of the Fourth Amendment has undergone an evolvement from its original intent and purpose as set forth in its composition by the founders and inclusion in the Bill of Rights. "The framers of the Constitution adopted the amendment in response to the writ of assistance (a type of blanket search warrant) that was used during the American Revolution" (Reed, J. May 24, 2011.). The Supreme Court in its role as Constitutional explicator has addressed the scope and boundaries of the…
Olmstead v. U.S.
Analyzing the stated language of the Fourth Amendment there is not an explicit definition of what constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure; only a generalized guarantee of protection against government intrusion. Prior to the Olmstead case in 1928 the Court had not commented substantively into Fourth amendment matters, the exception being Weeks v. U.S. In which the "the exclusionary rule was born; the exclusionary rule forbids the use of illegally obtained evidence in a criminal trial" (Fourth Amendment summaries.com. N.D.). The Court in Olmstead looked to more specifically identify the precise meaning of the reasonableness of search and seizure by government authorities. The case which involved "wiretaps of the basement of Olmstead's building (where he maintained an office) and in the streets near his home" (Oyez.org. N.D.) led the Court to consider the question of whether "the use of evidence disclosed in wiretapped private telephone conversations, violate the recorded party's Fourth and Fifth Amendments?" (Oyez.org. N.D.).
The Court's decision upholding a lower court conviction of Olmstead on bootlegging charges must be placed in the context of the nation's prohibition of alcohol and the government's attempts to enforce the 18th Amendment. As such the Court's opinion reflects a need for officers to utilize means necessary to collect "evidence of a conspiracy to violate the Prohibition Act" (Cornell University Law School. N.D.). The majority opinion reads the Fourth Amendment narrowly across several key areas. First, the wiretapping of "the basement of a large office building and on public streets" (Cornell University Law School. N.D.) did not constitute "trespass upon any property of the defendants" (Cornell University Law School. N.D.). Here the Court articulates a standard that a search is reasonable provided it does not "refer to an actual physical examination of one's person, papers, tangible material effects, or home" (Oyez.org. N.D.). Because none of Olmstead's personal property had been intruded upon, no unreasonable search had been committed. Second, the Court reasoned that wiretapping did not constitute a search because the protection of "the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects" does not include the protection of "their conversations" (Oyez.org. N.D.). Lastly, "the wiretaps did not violate the Fourth Amendment because there had been no physical intrusion" (Law.JRank.org. N.D.) into areas which would be considered constitutionally protected. In identifying these markers, the Court's narrow constriction of the reading of the Fourth Amendment indicates the "interest of liberty will not justify enlarging
Fourth Amendment and Court Jurisdiction
Based on the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution citizens have a right to 'be secure in their persons'. eferring to personal rights against 'unreasonable searches and seizures' (Wolfish, 441 U.S. At 595 Stevens, dissenting LectLaw, 2011). The definition implies that people cannot be detained or intruded upon by police or other law enforcement without a reasonable cause. It is a protection to acknowledge a citizen's rights under a higher authority or power that they must submit to. The Constitutional intent may be at odds with law enforcement because it protects the people by prohibiting the law to intrude even if the person(s) is a known criminal unless there is a reason (Wolfish, 441 U.S. At 595 Stevens, dissenting Lect Law, 2011).
For law enforcement to seize or detain a citizen there must be a reasonable cause. There are many court cases that have precedent…
References
Cornell Law. (1971). U.S. v. U.S. District Court. Retrieved August 6, 2011 from http://www. law. cornell. edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0407_0297_ZO. html
LectLaw Library. (2011). Fourth Amendment U.S. Constitution. Retrieved August 6,
2011 from http://www. lectlaw. com/def/f081. htm
U.S. Legal. (2011). Writ of Certiorari. Retrieved August 6, 2011 from http://www. lectlaw. com/articles/at0037. htm
Or, as Saletan points out, those three elements "by deduction, are the due process test" (2011).
But this ought to leave a bad taste in one's mouth because all three of these elements can be manipulated to violate one's due process right.
"hich leaves us with an awkward bottom line. If the target is a suspected terrorist, "imminence" can be redefined to justify killing him. If the weapon is a drone, feasibility of arrest has already been ruled out -- that's why the drone has been sent to do the job. So in any drone strike on a U.S. citizen suspected of terrorism, only one of the three questions we supposedly apply to such cases is really open: Has he been fighting alongside al-Qaida? If he has, we can kill him. That's the same rule we apply to foreigners. In effect, citizenship doesn't matter. The "due process" test is empty"…
Works Cited
Cornell University Law School. (n.d). Bill of Rights from Cornell University Law
School. Retrieved from:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html #amendmentv' target='_blank' REL='NOFOLLOW'>
First Amendment, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court
Freedom of and from religion and freedom of speech are the distinct provisions of the First Amendment; it gives citizens of the United States the unalienable human right to assembly and speech. However, the language is intentionally vague. The framers of the Constitution, anticipating unknown applications of the amendment, gave power to the Supreme Court to act as ultimate arbiter in matters involving its provisions. The Constitution of the United States is a living document and the interpretation of its amendments by the Supreme Court changes over time. Freedom of speech and the press, and religious freedom, are exercised according to the Supreme Court's rulings in cases that come before it. Exploration of these cases illuminates the evolving meaning of the First Amendment and the freedoms granted therein.
The First Amendment to the Constitution is partially designed to protect journalists and news-content…
References
Abrams, F. (2005). Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment. New York, NY:
Penguin Group (USA).
Campbell, D.S. (1990). The Supreme Court and Mass Media: Selected Cases,
Summaries, and Analyses. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
MEDIA LA: Argue Against: Discuss 1st amendment implications Family Prevention Tobacco Act 2009. Are tobacco
The Family Prevention Tobacco Act of 2009 was one of the more controversial pieces of legislature passed in recent times, for the simple fact that it gave a great deal of authority to the Food and Drug Administration to limit the effectiveness of the tobacco industry and its various companies to sell its products. There are multiple components of this legislation, which encompass various aspects of sales, advertising, inspections and registration of new products on the part of manufacturers. Among the many points of dissension that individual and collective entities within this industry claim regarding this legislation is that it limits their First Amendment right of freedom of speech. A thorough examination of the spirit and the lettering of this act, however, reveals that of its many different components, only one (that pertaining to advertising)…
Works Cited
No author. "Tobacco Controls Have Public Health Impact." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2011. Web. http://www.cdc.gov/Features/TobaccoControls/
Sifferland, Alexandria. "Colorful Ways Tobacco Industry May Be Skirting Labeling Rules." Time. 2013. Web. http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/15/colorful-way-tobacco-industry-may-be-skirting-labeling-rules/
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Overview of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act: Consumer fact Sheet." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2013. Web. http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/ucm246129.htm
The media has brought many important issues to life for the American public. For example, during the American civil rights movement, many areas of the country that had been hesitant to endorse full equality for African-Americans were horrified when they saw their fellow Americans being beaten simply for demanding their rights. The media was also highly influential in mobilizing the American public against the Vietnam War. Pictures showed more powerfully than words the terrible carnage and suffering generated by the conflict and the lack of progress that American military involvement was generating in Vietnam, despite the loss of many lives. Conversely, the media has also had a highly negative influence upon American opinion when it distorts the facts, such as when it inflamed opinion during the Spanish-American War and the McCarthy era, causing Americans to believe the propaganda disseminated in ostensibly objective venues.
The media can also have a more…
References
Aron, Leon. (2011). Everything you think you know about the collapse of the Soviet Union was wrong. Foreign Policy. Retrieved September 4, 2011 at http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/20/everything_you_think_you_know_about_the_collapse_of_the_soviet_union_is_wrong?page=0,3
First Amendment. (2011). Annotated constitution. Cornell Law. Retrieved September 4, 2011 at http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt1efrag4_user.html
Fourth Amendment. (2011). Annotated constitution. Cornell Law. Retrieved September 4, 2011
At http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt4frag1_user.html#amdt4_hd4
ight to Privacy, 1st Amendment
The parameters of one's right to privacy have long been a subject of controversy and while the Constitution does not expressly guarantee one's right to privacy, there are several amendments that were designed to protect specific, private rights of citizens. One of the amendments that seek to protect the private rights of citizens is the First Amendment. However, controversies have arisen that have required the Supreme Court to impose limitations on an individual who is exercising his or her rights under the First Amendment.
The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" (U.S. Const. amend. I). As stated in the First Amendment, one is…
References
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. (1988). The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago -- Kent College of Law.
Retrieved 7 July 2012, from http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1987/1987_86_1278/
Notable First Amendment Court Cases. (2012). American Library Association. Retrieved 7 July
2012, from http://www.ala.org/offices/oif/firstamendment/courtcases/courtcases
Jehovah's Witnesses are a good example of a religious entity that claims the right the First Amendment freedom of religion clauses. Jehovah's Witnesses may act as a thorn in many families across America, however, they have been the root cause of much of our freedom of religion laws. Jehovah's Witnesses brought many cases of religion to the court system in the 1930s and 1940s. Before then, the court system handled very few court cases regarding freedom of speech and freedom of religion. These cases formed the foundation of the First Amendment protection of all citizens.
The Court has attempted to create and implement a system for determining church and state decisions. This is accomplished with a three-part test for laws dealing with religious establishment. The determination if the law is constitutional is this: does it have a secular purpose? It should not advance or inhibit religion. Finally, it cannot foster…
In order to enforce the revenue laws, English authorities made use of writs of assistance, which were general warrants authorizing the bearer to enter any house or other place to search for and seize "prohibited and uncustomed" goods, and commanding all subjects to assist in these endeavors. he writs once issued remained in force throughout the lifetime of the sovereign and six months thereafter. When, upon the death of George II in 1760, the authorities were required to obtain the issuance of new writs, James Otis, who attacked such writs on libertarian grounds and who asserted the invalidity of the authorizing statutes because they conflicted with English constitutionalism, led opposition. Otis lost and the writs were issued and utilized, but his arguments were much cited in the colonies not only on the immediate subject but also with regard to judicial review.
he language of the provision which became the Fourth…
The language of the provision which became the Fourth Amendment underwent some modest changes on its passage through the Congress, and it is possible that the changes reflected more than a modest significance in the interpretation of the relationship of the two clauses. Madison's introduced version provided "The rights to be secured in their persons, their houses, their papers, and their other property, from all unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated by warrants issued without probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, or not particularly describing the places to be searched, or the persons or things to be seized." As reported from committee, with an inadvertent omission corrected on the floor, the section was almost identical to the introduced version, and the House defeated a motion to substitute "and no warrant shall issue" for "by warrants issuing" in the committee draft. The word "secured" was changed to "secure" and the phrase "against unreasonable searches and seizures" was reinstated. In some fashion, the rejected amendment was inserted in the language before passage by the House and is the language of the ratified constitutional provision.
Not every incident where an officer ascertains information is considered a "search." An officer who views something which is publicly viewable, for instance, by looking through the window of a house from the street, is not conducting a "search" of the house. In Katz v. United States (1967), the Supreme Court ruled that there is no search unless an individual has an "expectation of privacy" and the expectation is "reasonable" - that is, it is one that society is prepared to recognize. So, for example, there is generally no search when officers look through garbage because there is no expectation that garbage is private. Similarly, there is no search where officers monitor what phone numbers an individual dials, although Congress has placed statutory restrictions on such monitoring. This doctrine sometimes leads to somewhat unexpected results; in Florida v. Riley (1989), the Supreme Court ruled that there was no expectation of privacy, and thus no search, where officers hovered in a helicopter 400 feet above a suspect's house and conducted surveillance. The Supreme Court has also ruled that there can be no expectation of privacy in illegal activity. Therefore, investigations that reveal only illegal activity, such as some use of drug sniffing dogs, are not searches.
The decision in Terry v. Ohio (1968) established that some brief seizures may be made without probable cause. If an officer has a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed or will soon be committed, that
students opportunity discuss a key political science concept, show a basic understanding academic research reporting skills.
Define "loose construction" and "strict construction" methods of constitutional interpretation, and describe how each perspective aligns with formal vs. informal methods of change.
The 'strict construction' view of the Constitution has traditionally been aligned with conservatives such as Robert Bork who argue that "a judge interpreting the Constitution" should only consider "the words used in the Constitution [as] would have been understood at the time [of enactment]" (Linder, citing Posner, "Theories"). In contrast, the 'loose construction' view (traditionally aligned with more liberal politics) stresses the need to interpret the Constitution in a manner beyond the letter of the law. There are a number of factors which justices traditionally consider when making constitutional interpretations, including the text itself; likely intentions of the founders; precedents; consequences of the decision in the 'real world;' and so-called 'natural…
Works Cited
Chemerinsky, Erwin. "Conservatives embrace judicial activism in campaign finance ruling."
The L.A. Times. 2010 Jan 22. [2014 Apr 6]
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/22/opinion/la-oe-chemerinsky22-2010jan22
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). Exploring Constitutional Law. [2014 Apr 6]
It is also argued that the insurance mandate is not constitutional since the government does not have the right to tell the United States citizens what products to purchase, even when these products are beneficial for them, and even less when the socio-economic impact of purchasing the respective items is questionable (Savage, 2009).
Arguments against changing the direction of the policy
Once again delaying any measures to restructure and resolve the two impending problems in the health care system (raising costs and insufficient coverage) does not constitute a constructive approach to resolving the impending problems
Aside the socio-economic problems it raises, the mandatory health insurance would ensure that all the U.S. citizens benefit at least from the basic health care services and this does not put tremendous strains on the federal budgets.
5. ationale of the suggestion to change the direction
Despite the benefits the mandatory health insurance would generate…
References:
Barnett, R., 2009, Is health insurance mandate constitutional? last accessed on June 18, 2010
Berger, J., 2009, a health insurance mandate that works like auto insurance? Think again, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/14/health-insurance-mandate-works-like-auto-insurance-think / last accessed on June 18, 2010
Bihari, M., 2010, Mandated benefits -- understanding mandated health insurance benefits, http://healthinsurance.about.com/od/reform/a/mandated_benefits_overview.htm last accessed on June 18, 2010
Cowen, T., 2009, How an insurance mandate could leave many worse off, http://www.nytimes.com /2009/10/25/health/policy/25view.html last accessed on June 18, 2010
On appeal, Terry argued that the conviction should be thrown out because the search that produced the evidence of the weapon in his possession was improper because it was an impermissible search of his person without a warrant or probable cause as required by the 4th Amendment (Schmalleger, 2009).
The Supreme Court decided that the type of search the police officer conducted was not prohibited by the 4th Amendment. Instead, it was a reasonable and appropriate means of ensuring the safety of the officer from concealed weapons in a tactical situation in which that concern was appropriate in light of the totality of the circumstances in which it occurred. While the 4th Amendment does prohibit more invasive searches with the intention of finding evidence of crimes, (such as for concealed contraband or of small containers), it does not prelude an external frisk now known as a Terry frisk or Terry…
References
Delattre, E. (2006). Character and Cops: Ethics in Policing. Washington, DC:
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
Hendrie, E. (1997) "The Inevitable Discovery Exception to the Exclusionary Rule." FBI
Law Enforcement Bulletin. Accessed 16 Dec 2011, at:
Patriot Act Homeland Security Act 21st Century form foundation United States' domestic response terrorist attacks September 11, 2001. Many legal political voices advocated acts resulted a reduction rights citizens a loss civil liberties.
The Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act:
Are they a violation of our constitutional rights?
According to the U.S. government, the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act gave the government the necessary tools to investigate acts of terror, including greater leeway in the use of surveillance technology; greater leeway in sharing information between law enforcement agencies, and increased the penalties for terrorist-related crimes (The U.S. Patriot Act, 2014, Department of Justice). However, it is very difficult to establish whether a law has genuinely prevented crime, particularly a crime with such complex causality as terrorism. Furthermore, civil liberties groups have criticized the Act for limiting the freedom of innocent Americans. ather than improving the safety of…
References
Judge rules part of the Patriot Act unconstitutional. (2007). NBC. Retrieved from:
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20999950/ns/us_news-security/t/judge-rules-part-patriot-act-unconstitutional/#.Ux2qlIX5Pz8
The Patriot Act in a nutshell. Associated Press Retrieved from:
http://www.scn.org/ccapa/pa-meta.html
Limiting Constitutional Rights to Bear Arms
The capital issue in the hypothetical court case detailed within Application 1.2 is the boundaries for limitations on the personal right to bear arms. Those boundaries are unclear in this case, because the defendant is exercising his right to bear arms as denoted within the second amendment to the United States Constitution. However, this person (known as Lloyd) has stockpiled enough arms that his store is dangerous to others living around him, which is why they have sued Lloyd claiming that his actions under the second amendment violate their constitutional rights. Specifically, they are claim Lloyd is infringing their rights outlined in the fifth and ninth amendments to the constitution. The relevance of these amendments to this case is that the fifth amendment states no person should suffer the loss of their life or property, whereas the ninth mandates that rights granted in the…
Minor's Constitutional Rights
courts have recognized some Constitutional rights for students attending public schools that school officials need to be aware of. Even though, school officials have been given the right to control student conduct on school grounds, school officials can cross the line when it comes to student rights. The Supreme Court case Safford Unified School District #1 v. Redding (2009) is a prime example of school officials crossing the line concerning violation of a student's Constitutional rights when the Arizona middle school had strip searched 13-year-old Savana Redding under suspicion she was hiding ibuprophen pills in her underwear (arnes 2009).
The fact was another student had been found with prescription strength ibuprophen and told the Assistant Principal she received it from Redding. After being pulled into the office by the Assistant Principal, Redding had consented to a search of her backpack and outer clothing. When the search found…
Bibliography
Barnes, P. 2009. Supreme Court Rules Strip Search Violated 13-Year-old Girl's Rights. June 26. Accessed Apr 26, 2013. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062501690.html .
Bravin, J. 2009. Court Faults Strip-Search of Student. June 26. Accessed Apr 26, 2013. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124593034315253301.html .
Liptak, A. 2009. Strip Search of Girl Tests Limits of School Policy. Mar 23. Accessed Apr 26, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com /2009/03/24/us/24savana.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.
Fourth Amendment by the United States Supreme Court has sometimes been characterized by several controversies. One of the controversies associated with Supreme Court's interpretation of the Fourth Amendment is the belief that it's a demonstration of the challenges in determining a fair balance. As a result of this interpretation, a public-order advocate may argue that the exclusionary rule has restricted the capabilities of law enforcement officers to effectively safeguard the community. In contrast, an individual-rights advocate may claim that the changes have contributed to positive police reforms, which necessitates the expansion of such rights. Therefore, the exclusionary rule continues to generate various debates regarding its impact and relevance in the modern society.
Generally, the exclusionary rule is a right to be free from the Fourth Amendment's unreasonable searches and seizures, which in turn provides a dilemma for the society. For some people, this rule gives every individual the right to…
Works Cited
"Annotation 6 - Fourth Amendment." Findlaw - For Legal Professionals. Thomson Reuters, 31 Mar. 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2015. .
Maclin, Tracey. "The Central Meaning of the Fourth Amendment." William & Mary Law Review 7th ser. 35.1 (1993): 197-249. William & Mary Law School - Scholarship Repository. Digital Commons, 1993. Web. 4 Apr. 2015. .
Slobogin, Christopher. "The Liberal Assault on the Fourth Amendment." OHIO STATE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW 4 (2007): 603-18. The Ohio State University - Moritz College of Law. The Ohio State University | Michael E. Moritz College of Law, 11 Mar. 2007. Web. 4 Apr. 2015. .
Equal Protection Clause of 14th Amendment
The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment extended to protections of the Bill of ights to all Americans, including pregnant women. Therefore, it is fundamentally unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to criminalize pregnant women who take illegal drugs for fetal abuse or neglect without applying the same conditions on pregnant women who endanger their unborn child by drinking alcohol, smoking, or otherwise failing to provide the best possible nurturing environment for the fetus. This paper reviews the relevant peer-reviewed and scholarly literature together with the precedential case law concerning these issues to support this view, followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.
eview and Analysis
A growing body of research concerning fetal development together with innovations in modern healthcare technologies have provided researchers with new insights about what can harm or nurture…
References
Blank, R.H. (2002). Mother and fetus: Changing notions of maternal responsibility. New York:
Greenwood Press.
Flavin, J. (2009). Our bodies, our crimes: The policing of women's reproduction in America.
New York: New York University Press.
First Amendment
The doctrine of incorporation was traced to the Quincy ailroad vs. City of Chicago (1897) where the Supreme Court required state to offer compensation to the property appropriated by either the local government or state government. In the Gitlow v. New York (1925), the court also expressly held States to protect the freedom of speech. Since 1920s, the Court has been steadily incorporating a significant part of the Bill of ights.
The First Amendment is one of the basic provisions of Bill of ights, which is the backbone of American liberty that guarantees freedom of press, speech, religion, and petition. While some provisions of the First Amendment have been selectively incorporated into the Bill of ights, however, some provisions have still faced challenges in selectively incorporated. The doctrine of selective incorporation has led to a long lasting debate in the United States revealing whether the Bill of ights…
Reference
Patterson, T. (2012). We the People (10th Edition). McGraw-Hill Education
On the other hand, a motive of debate was whether or not the Court should be intervening on issues that, ultimately, belong to daily operations in schools. The Court judged, however, that this was a breech to "basic constitutional values" (as in Epperson vs. Arkansas) and, in this sense, the judicial system's intervention becomes a necessity.
Additionally, the Court decided that the school board's decision could not be justified by the sole means of "educational suitability," which would have made it permissible, but that it was based on a purely partisan, political approach (some of the 9 titles clearly suggest this).
Petitioners rightly possess significant discretion to determine the content of school libraries. But that discretion may not be exercised in a narrowly partisan or political manner."
ANALYSIS
In Board of Education vs. Pico, the Supreme Court affirmed, with a 5-4 vote an order from the Second Circuit Court of…
Prosecutors understandably want to win cases and police want to keep criminals off the streets: that is their job and usually they perform it well. However, illegal search and seizure is against the law just as armed robbery is against the law. To turn a blind eye to illegal search and seizure is to invite tyranny into our borders, to create a state in which citizens live in fear of the police and in which police can routines abuse their position of power.
As Fyfe suggests, police should periodically receive retraining and reeducation and should be routinely subject to "supervision, monitoring, and discipline" (p. 381). Public policy should reflect a stricter interpretation of the Fourth Amendment and we should do away with Operation Pipeline-like slippery slopes. Police officers and public prosecutors do a good enough job without having to resort to illegal means. Permitting a ridiculously liberal interpretation of the…
Works Cited
Fyfe, James J. "Stops, Frisks, Searches, and the Constitution." Criminology and Public Policy. Vol.3 No.3. Retrieved Nov 4, 2005 at http://216.234.48.148/courses/CJ701_media/Police%20Searches%20Fyfe.pdf
Harcourt, Bernard E. "Unconstitutional Police Searches and Collective Responsibility." Criminology and Public Policy. Vol.3 No.3. Retrieved Nov 4, 2005 at http://216.234.48.148/courses/CJ701_media/Police%20Searches%20Harcourt.pdf
Shocking the Conscience: Beyond the Routine Illegality of Police Searches." Criminology and Public Policy. Vol.3 No.3. Retrieved Nov 4, 2005 at http://216.234.48.148/courses/CJ701_media/Police%20Searches%20Editorial.pdf
U.S. Constitution: Fourth Amendment." Reproduced online at FindLaw.com. Retrieved Nov. 4, 2005 at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment04
In Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution, Congress was limited from prohibiting the importation of slaves, at least until 1808. For twenty years, Congress was, by virtue of the Constitution, enjoined from any attempt to limit slave importation. Finally, however, Congress did pass a law outlawing the slave trade as of January 1, 1808.
The final mention of slavery in the Constitution virtually prevented slaves from gaining freedom by escaping to a non-slave state. The Fugitive Slave Clause states that the laws of one state could not excuse a person from "service or labor" in another state; in short, escaped slaves were to be extradited from free states back to slave states because the escapees were not truly human with rights to liberty, but rather property with no rights.
Three of every four Southerners lived, after 1808, in the coastal states of Maryland, Virginia, and North and South Carolina;…
Economics of Internal Slave Trade and Northern Slavery. Internet. http://cghs.dade.k12.fl.us/slavery/antebellum_slavery/economics/internal.htm
Slavery and the Constitution. Internet. Retrieved from http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_slav.html
The Three-Fifths Compromise. Internet. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-fifths_compromise
Homeland Security / Constitutional Issues
Civil Liberties: These are fundamental freedoms interpreted by policymakers and courts over the years or assured by the Constitutional Bill of ights (Pearcy, 2003-2016).
Bill of ights: This is an official statement of American citizens' fundamental rights, integrated into the U.S. Constitution in the form of ten Amendments, as well as into the constitutions of all states (Bill of rights, n.d.).
Thought Police: This denotes a cluster of individuals holding totalitarian views regarding a particular subject, and who continuously keep an eye on others for noting any deviations from the way of thinking approved (Thought Police, n.d.).
Thought Crime: This refers to a case of controversial or unconventional thinking, which is regarded as socially unacceptable or as a crime (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016).
Big Brother: A 'big brother' is an ever-present, apparently benevolent personage who represents the tyrannical control over the lives of individuals as exerted…
References
Bill of rights. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved May 21, 2016 from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/bill-of-rights
IndiaAllouche. (2012). 1984 Dystopian Society. Writing About Literature. Retrieved May 21, 2016 from http://12fwritingaboutliterature.blogspot.in/2012/10/1984-dystopian-society.html
Nolo. (2016). Appeals and the Writ of Habeas Corpus FAQ. Retrieved May 21, 2016 from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/appeals-writ-habeas-corpus-faq-29096-5.html
Oxford Dictionaries. (2016). Thought Crime. Retrieved May 21, 2016 from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/thoughtcrime
Slaughter-House Cases
Impact of the Slaughter-House Cases
The adoption of the constitution of the United States of America faced opposition from groups that feared the takeover of a centralized government. This opposition arose from the fear that this new centralized government would demean and embarrass the states by forcing or administering and contradicting the state's decisions, laws and policies. Opponents of the constitution feared that "the powers granted to the proposed government were not sufficiently guarded, and might be used to encroach upon the liberties of the people" (McClain 18). After the ratification of the constitution by the states the desire for amendments and regulations that restricted the powers of the new government was voiced by representatives of those states.
There was extreme fear that the everyday rights and liberties of citizens of a state would be impacted, restricted and oppressed by a centralized form of government. The desire to…
References
Abernathy, M.G. (1972). Civil liberties under the Constitution (2d ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
Gerdhart, M. (1990). The Ripple Effects of Slaughter-House: A Critique of a Negative Rights View of the Constitution.. Vandervilt Law Review, 43(409), 1. Retrieved July 13, 1983, from https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&doctype=cite&docid=43+Vand.+L.+Rev.+409&key=6a72b77f63c796a5bbcb151af5b3f9ce
Lee, P.Y. (2008). Meat, modernity, and the rise of the slaughterhouse . Durham, N.H.: published by University Press of New England.
Menez, J.F., Vile, J.R., & Bartholomew, P.C. (2004). Summaries of leading cases on the Constitution (14th ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
There are limitations on the destruction of wiretap records. The numbers of crimes for which wiretaps can be used, the types of judges who can authorize taps have both however, been expanded.
What Does the Constitution Say?
The United States Constitution states many principles of constitutional law that must be present in for Democracy to truly exist. Democracy is characterized by freedom and liberty to think and believe individually and the freedom to express those beliefs through speech that does not trod upon or offend others. The travesties against justice n committed in the name of Democracy is an affront to all that was intended, fought, and died in attaining in America.
Freedom, liberty and justice not only in America indeed, for the entire world. ut there are limitations within the realm of freedom and justice, for it is not freedom or justice in the forcing of what is termed…
Bibliography
Preamble to the Constitution of the United States (nd) Legal Information Institute [Online] available at; http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.preamble.html
Dirck, Brian R. (2002) Posterity's blush: civil liberties, property rights, and property confiscation in the confederacy. Civil War History; 9/1/2002 [Online] available at; http://www.highbeam.com/library /doc3.asp?DOCID=1G1:92589648&num=38&ctrlInfo=Round9a%3AProd%3ASR%3AResult&ao=' target='_blank' REL='NOFOLLOW'>
Issue
Of fundamental concern to the Court in Goss was the issue of procedural due process as opposed to substantive due process. By not providing a formal or informal hearing for the students explaining the reasons for suspension, and not offering the students an opportunity to present their contravening opinion, did the school violate the fourteenth amendment's procedural due process requirements?
Reasoning
The Court held in a five- four majority opinion that the school district had violated the student's rights by suspending them without proper notice or hearing. The Court's logic in this decision is particularly interesting as it speaks to the student's "property and liberty interests that qualify for protection under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment" (Cornell University Law School- Goss v. Lopez. N.D.). The property concern is of paramount importance in the decision as the court found that "because Ohio had chosen to extend the…
The fact that Fred was eventually allowed to leave is less important in that determination than Fred's state of mind and reasonable belief about whether or not he was still free to leave once the police informed him that he was actually a suspect in Wilma's murder (Dershowitz, 2002; Zalman, 2008).
Search and Seizure and Unlawful Arrest Issues:
The fact pattern does not make clear whether or not the police actually conducted a search of Fred's home or were merely "bluffing" to induce cooperation from Fred. Assuming that no such unwarranted search was actually being conducted, there was no impermissible search and seizure of Fred's home. Provided Fred still (reasonably) believed that he was free to terminate the interview and leave when he volunteered the confession, that evidence should not be excluded under Miranda (and related) doctrine and principles.
However, the police did seize Fred's vehicle, which was an impermissible…
References
Dershowitz, A. (2002). Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age. New York:
Bantam Books.
Friedman, A. (2005). A History of American Law. New York: Touchstone.
Schmalleger, F. (2008). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st
Administrative Search Exception
Administrative Search Exemption
Administrative search exception: Why it applies to airport searches
The 'administrative search exception' has often been called the TSA's attempt to circumvent the Fourth Amendment. However, "while the new TSA enhanced pat downs may violate the Fourth Amendment on the surface, what most people are not aware of is that the 9th Circuit Court of the United States ruled on the search of passengers in airports back in 1973, which effectively suspends limited aspects of the Fourth Amendment while undergoing airport security screening" (Frischling 2010). The U.S. Supreme Court case which established the exclusionary rule as a rule of law (the idea that 'fruit of the poisonous tree' evidence obtained illegally could not be used against a defendant in a court of law) was not found to be applicable in this particular category of searches. The U.S. Supreme Court had already established in 1968…
References
Frischling, S. (2010). How The TSA Legally Circumvents The Fourth Amendment. Flying with Fish. Retrieved from:
http://flyingwithfish.boardingarea.com/2010/11/20/how-the-tsa-legally-circumvents-the-fourth-amendment/
Skean, B. (2002). NIU's Northern Exposure Airport exceptions to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement. Retrieved from: http://www.dcbabrief.org/vol140202art5.html
Terry v. Ohio. (1968). LII. Retrieved from:
individual making the leak would likely be protected by First Amendment laws given that the statement was made by the sheriff regarding the investigation 'on the record,' as is noted in the report. If a statement was made about a public figure who has less of an expectation of privacy under current legal interpretations, regardless if the leaker was a member of the press or a private individual, the statement would be thoroughly protected. "Despite popular misunderstanding the right to freedom of the press guaranteed by the First Amendment is not very different from the right to freedom of speech. It allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression [for all individuals]. It does not afford members of the media any special rights or privileges not afforded to citizens in general" ("First Amendment," 2014). All citizens have…
References
Defamation law made simple. (2014). Nolo. Retrieved from:
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-law-made-simple-29718.html
Diminished privacy rights for public figure/official. (2014). RCFP. Retrieved from:
http://www.rcfp.org/federal-foia-appeals-guide/exemption-6/ii-clearly-unwarranted-invasion-personal-privacy/nature-pri-7#sthash.gTTMToJe.dpuf
Right to Carry Handguns for Self-Protection:
The right to carry handguns for law abiding citizens has been a continual social and political debate about the restriction or availability of firearms within the country. Actually, the right to carry handguns has developed to become one of the major controversial and intractable issues within the social and political environments in the nation. The main reason attributed to the development of this controversial issue is the constitutional provision regarding firearms and the government's responsibility to prevent criminal activities, maintaining order, and safeguarding citizens' well-being. The debate has been characterized by different reasons that have been raised by intellectuals, social activists, and advocates in support and opposition of the controversial issue.
Historical Overview:
The debate regarding the right to carry and keep firearms can be traced to the inception of the gun culture, which explained the affections of American's citizens in adopting and celebrating…
Works Cited:
Arnold, Larry. "The History of Concealed Carry, 1976-2011." Texas Concealed Handgun Association. Texas Concealed Handgun Association, 25 Feb. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .
"THE FACTS: WHY RIGHT TO CARRY IS RIGHT FOR MISSOURI!" MOCCW - The Fight for Concealed Carry in Missouri. MOCCW.org, 9 May 2006. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .
"National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012" Introduced in U.S. Senate." USA Carry. USA Carry, 14 Mar. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .
"Right-To-Carry 2012." NRA-ILA: Insitute for Legislative Action. National Rifle Association of America. Institute for Legislative Action, 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. .