Assignment 11/17/14

Pickering v. Board of Education

1. What issue was addressed in this case?

     The issue was debating whether or not school officials violate the First Amendment by terminating a teacher for writing a letter to the editor that discusses important matters of public concern.

2. Explain the basic facts about this case?

     A high school science teacher had written a letter to the editor of the local newspaper criticizing the way the Board of Education was spending its money between athletics and academics. The school board then terminated the teacher, saying the letter contained false statements. The teacher sued the Board, claiming they violated the First Amendment's freedom of speech. 

3. How and why did the case progress through the courts?

     The case was required to be heard due to Illinois law.

4. Why was the case heard by the Supreme Court?

     The case was heard because it is an important case due to the fact that it involves the Constitution.

5. What was the Court's decision in the case?

     The majority vote was that the school did violate his right to freedom of speech. "While criminal sanctions and damage awards have a somewhat different impact on the exercise of the right to freedom of speech from dismissal from employment, it is apparent that the threat of dismissal from public employment is nonetheless a potent means of inhibiting speech." (Justice Thurgood Marshall)

6. How does this case impact the nation and its people?

     It shows the boundaries for violation of the First Amendment.

7. What do you think about this case?

     I think this case was very helpful to the rest of the world.

Bellringer 10/30

1. This does not support my debate. I think we should have capital punishment.

2. It was correct to stop it on grounds that something was wrong with the court case.

Bellringer 10/29

Some of these laws just make you wonder what happened to make the state make that law. Yes, when you think about it, some make sense. Others are just so crazy that its funny. I think the craziest one is Florida's, because how would they fine the women if they're dead?

Bellringer 10/28

1. They are seeking the death penalty because he saved himself from being on the sinking ship instead of helping the school children that were on the ship.

2. I disagree with them attempting to give him the death penalty. That is just getting him off the hook for abandoning all those people. Although, if it was his fault and he was only being selfish, then maybe he should get the death penalty.

3. I believe the death penalty should definitely be allowed for certain things. I think people that really do horrible things deserve to rot in prison, not get "let off" and recieve the death penalty.

page 284 ?s 1-4

1- The Senate has fewer members than the House.
2- The seats are nevver up for election at the same time.
3- They have less pressures than the House.
4- They are in office longer, so they would get more attention.

pg. 271 ?s 1-4 ; pg 280 1-4

Page 271

1- They make a bicameral legislature for practical, theoretical and historical reasons.

2- It is a legislature made up of two houses.

3- The term is how long they are in office, but the session is when they conduct business.

4- When they adjourn a session, they suspend until next session. A recess is when they temporarily suspend business.

Page 280

1- They are distributed by how many people are in that state. They serve for two years.

2- They are reapportioned every ten years after a census.

3- There aren't as many representatives in single-member districts.

4- To create "safe" districts.

Presidentual Report Card

Presidential Report Card

Name of President: Andrew Johnson

Number of Presidency: 17th

Years in Office: 4 years (1 term)

In the following ten categories, grade your president from an A to an F. (You may “acknowledge” border-line grades with a – or a +). You will need to give a 50 word justification as to why your candidate scored as they did.

 

   I gave him great grades for the most part because I believe he tried very hard at being President. After President Lincoln died, he tried his best to get America to get back to "normal." I believe he was an admirable president because he obviously had strength and tried hard to help America cope with the loss of Abraham Lincoln.

Category	Grade	Comments
Ability to handle and deal with a crisis	A+	He was the guy who took over Presidentcy after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
Ability to work with Congress and Cabinet	A	He obviously worked very well with Congress and the Cabinet to reign in America after the assassination.
Character and Integrity	A	He had to have a lot of character to make sure the police caught John Wilkes Booth.
Education	A+	Even though he was formerly a tailor shop owner, he was a champion at politics in Tennessee.
Empathy	A	He had to have had empathy for America after the loss of Abraham Lincoln.
Foreign Policy	B	I'm not sure if there was much foreign affairs going on at the time. At least, there was none mentioned.
Relates to the common man	A-	He definitely would because he was formerly a tailor before getting into politics. Although, he was viewed as a traitor to the South.
Persuasiveness	C	Somehow he had managed Tennessee to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment; after two violent riots.
Political Experience	A+	He had a lot of previous experience because he was one of the best people for debate.
Public speaking & Communication	A+	He was a champion at debation.

Bellringer 10/13

1. This doesn't surprise me at all. Nothing of this sort is private.

2. Very little privacy exists, if any.

Bellringer 10/10

If she wants to take her own life, she should. Although I highly disagree with this, if she wants to do it, let her. People have their own free will, so why not allow her to do what she wants. If she is conscious and is willing to kill herself, it would be suicide. If it's without her 100% consent, it would be euthanasia. I would be distraught, but I wouldn't kill myself. I would hope they would cure my disease before I would kill myself.

Bellringer 10/9

1. Obviously, the regions love food and are more rich in economy.

2. Yeah I would. I love meat and it would be free. What's better than that?

Bellringer 10/8

2. I'm definitely not surprised. There are countless restaraunts where the make their waitresses dress inapproriately to try and lure in more customers; waitresses follow this to recieve more tips. This is obviously a reason for sexual harrassment.

3. There has to be something done. Either a law or something so the waitresses could dress more appropriately and then, the restaraunts would get even more businesses and maybe par their waitresses better.

4. They should make it to where waitresses can wear something preservative and get paid a bit more so they don't have to worry about sexual harrasment.

Bellringer 10/6

1. I think they are trying to find out what people want to see on their news feed.

2. They need to find a way to stop it.

Bellringer 10/3

1. I believe so.

2. Most likely, yes. I'm sure the Supreme Court has dealt with cases like this.

3. I think its kind of stupid for the city to require people to pay just to live there.

Bellringer 10/2

1. They aren't as worried because it is hard to catch the disease.

2. The Influenza, Measles, and the Norovirus is what they believe we should be afraid of. They are curable.

3. My only personal concern is that scientists won't take this disease seriously, and the disease will end up like the Black Plague.

Bellringer 10/1/14

1. He should not be, because he is expressing his right to freedom of religion. You are allowed to express your religion publicly.

2. The First Amendment's Freedom of Religion.

3. People should think of it like this, anyone should be eligible to practice their freedom. Especially the freedom of religion. Everyone is able to practice their faith, and I applaud him for doing so in public; most people probably would be too afraid of persecution to do so.

Bellringer 9/30/14

1. This case would change a lot of things. It would change how people are accused of rape the most. People wouldn't have to fight their innocence as much due to the fact that they said yes.

2. It would be harder because if the other person says yes, it wouldn't be as easy.

Bellringer 9/29/14

1. They are protesting for the ability to vote in the next election due to the fact that only a select few people get the privilage to vote.

2. The rights that are being taken is the freedom of petition, speech, expression, the right to vote at age 18 and the right to bear arms.

Bellringer 9/26/14

1. It shows that either not many people care about getting a degree, or the jobs they hope for does not require one.

2. I think that some people are just too lazy to put in the effort to get a bachelor's degree. Other's probably think they just can't. The select few that don't have them probably hoped for a job that didn't require it.

3. One solution could be to show people they could achieve a college degree and encourage them to try it.

Bellringer 9/25/14

1. President Obama basically attempted to get more global action against the ISIS threat.

2. I don't think he was completely unsuccessful in obtaining his objective. I think certains countries would assist in controlling these threats.

Bellringer 9/18/14

This article is on Isis and what it has become. Obviously, the leader is clever if he managed to keep his group alive through civil wars and is able to make sure there is things like food and gas for him 'followers.' And the fact that they have went from a military group to something scary and powerful. Isis is now becoming its own government instead of just a group.

Bellringer 9/16/14

1. Reasonable punishment is pretty much exactly what is says. It is punishment given for a crime or for discipline within reason.

2. When I was younger, a whipping was viewed as discipline, as long as it did not leave bruises or marks. If it did, it was child abuse; which is completely true. Now if you whip your child as parents did twenty years ago, it is apparently child abuse. I honestly believe that is why children today are so much more unruly than they were twenty years ago. Yes, you should discipline them, but within reason. A disciplinary whipping should never leave any kind of mark, and if you mean to teach them it never would. In this article, the father used a switch. That, I believe, was fine and wasn't child abuse as long as it didn't leave a mark.

Bellringer 9/8

This article is basically proof that you never know who you're around. The fact that there is a former WWII spy in West Virginia kind of surprises me. I would have thought they all were either deceased or living in a big, well-known city. What this man had went through and his actions just amazed me. I haven't heard of many people who would endure torture and still fight for the same cause. He is obviously very smart; due to the fact that he fled Germany when Hitler took power and then ended up becoming an American spy pretending to be an injured Nazi soldier. That would take a bunch of courage, knowing someone could always find out the truth at any moment, but doing it anyway.

Bill of Rights 2-10

2 - Amendment 2 is about the right to bear Arms and about the "well-regulated" Malitia.
3 - No soldier is allowed in a house without consent of the owner.
4 - No unreasonable searches. Any search must have a warrant.
5 - No double jeopardy; no one can be deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without process of law; no private property is to be revoked.
6 - Any accused person is to have a quick trial.
7 - Any accused person should have a jury.
8 - Excessive bail and excessive fines are not to be imposed; nor cruel punishment.
9 - Certain rights are not to deny others
10 - Powers not reserved strictly for United States is permitted for citizens and States.

Bellringer 9/5/14

1. It strips away all privacy and it could possibly allow other people to recieve personal information on other people.

2. The only reason I could come up with for them being near military bases is that someone is either planning something or the government is doing something else.

3. It is possible that they could be responsible. Maybe they are trying to find something that they believe is inside a military base. Maybe someone was giving out inside information and this could possibly be a way to stop it.

Bellringers 9/2/14

Honestly, I'm not surprised at all that something like this could happen. It was bound to happen I think. I do think about what I post and worry about what I send; therefore, I almost never post things on social media and I make everything private. That way, only people I really know would be able to see it. I think they should be prosecuted.

Bellringer 9/4/14

1. I believe this will have a huge impact on India because they are basically saying they will attack India.

2. I'm not entirely sure as to why they would be targeting India. It could be something to do with Jews and Hindus, or it could have something to do with British borders.

3. I think the U.S. should be on alert as well. If one place is being threatened, and two American journalists have already been killed, the U.S. should also get added security.

Bellringer 9/3/14

1. Rick Perry is accused of withholding funding for a Democratic general attorney's program; threatening the pull of $3.4 million from an annual state funding by abusing his veto power; one count of abuse of official capacity; and one count of coercion of a public servant.

2. I disagree with what he did. It was an obvious abuse of power. Although, I don't think that general attorney should still be an attorney at all, I still don't believe he had a good reason for doing what he did.

Bellringer 8/29/14

1. Honestly, I think this little girl's parents are to blame. I just don't understand why they would put a gun in a nine year old girl's hands to begin with.
2. Nine year old children should not even be on a shooting ranges property. Little kids that age are hard to keep a hold of, so anything could happen.
3. No weapons of any sort should be in the hands of a child. The only time they should have a potential weapon is when they are hunting and being supervised by a responsible adult. At an age where the children are responsible, then they could be in possession of a weapon; that being said, they should have a weapon as long as they are careful and use it for the right reasons.

Bellringer 8/28/14

The Articles of Confederation is a document on what the people of what would become America thought. They were basically telling England they were not going to be governed by the British.

Bellringer 8/27/14

Undergraduates at a college have created a new nail polish that changes colors when you stir a drink with a date rape drug in it. They are now raising money to fix the prototype. The students call it "Undercover Colors." I think there are no drawbacks to this creation. It would be very helpful for someone who does not want to be put in a situation like that.

Bellringer 8/26/14

I think it is not a smart idea to begin surveillance in Syria. If they were not planning to attack us and discover we were watching them, there is a possibility they would end up attacking the U.S. I believe we should just take extra precautions when it comes to this issue.

Bellringer 8/25/14

1. This article is about the 6.0 earthquake that occured this weekend in Napa, California. The eartquake struck around 3:20 a.m. Sunday morning. It was the worst tremor in the area in 72 years. 172 people were admitted into the hospital; and 3 people were in critical condition. Today, the city is attempting to resume life and business. Although, some places are unable to reopen, and 90 to 100 homes were said to be unhabitable. Schools were also forced to be shut down. Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency.

2. Although it will take some time to discover the cause for the earthquake yesterday, some believe it was caused by Franklin's Fault; which was believed to be dormant for 1.6 million years. It could have also been caused by the Pacific Ocean's crust moving sideways, which is what made northern California famous for earthquakes. Napa, California has only ever reached a magnitude of 6.0 when it comes to earthquakes; so in my opinion, the reason for this earthquake would be the same as others.

U.S. Issues 8/22/14

      I think the three biggest problems in America is our national debt, unemployment, and lack of education. I also believe that all of these things are connected. Our national debt is caused in part by unemployment; and unemployment is caused in part by a lack of education. America needs to work to fix these problems. Otherwise, we will be crushed by the debt.
     Our national debt raises every second of every day; so this is probably the biggest problem. Many things contribute to over $61,000,000,000,000 we owe at this moment. Instead of working to pay off our debt, people are focused on lesser things. Therefore, the debt is getting no closer to being paid. I believe fixing this debt should be our number one priority in America.
     Unemployment is one of those things that cause the rise in debt. With 3 unemployed people, there is 1 working person paying for the unemployed as well as for themselves. This is something that needs to be fixed. Although, yes there are some legitimate reasons as to why some people are unemployed. Those of us who are able to get a job, should get one; and maybe it would fix some of the problems in America.
     A lack of education is also a cause for unemployment. People who are uneducated have a problem finding and keeping jobs. I think people who don't have a good excuse to leave/drop out of school, should not be able to. You should only be able to drop out of school if you have a medical reason or you are physically/emotionally unable to attend. But even then, there are ways you can achieve an education at home.
     While there are many problems America faces daily, I feel these are the biggest ones. It may take a lot of work to fix these problems, but people need to work hard on it. America needs to stop being lazy, and learn that to get an enjoyable life, you have to overcome obstacles and work hard.

Bellringers 8/20/14

1. This article was about how the U.S. taxes are raised higher than that of other countries. This was done in order to make U.S. businesses more "competitive." Many businesses are changing where their headquarters is so they can avoid paying the high taxes. People are actually saying they may cry over these high taxes. Many companies who chose to stay in America have found ways to get around these taxes.

2. The purpose of taxes is to pay off America's debt.

3. I think those who are rich and are celebrities should pay the most.

Bellringer 8/19/14

1. The police had used tear gas on multiple crowds for multiple reasons. City Alderman Antonio French was released from jail after being arrested with no formal charges and posting bond.

2. I think excessive force means that someone or something does something too extreme that the situation did not call for. I think it was used because Michael Brown was shot 6 times when he did not have a weapon on him.

3. I think I would suspend the officer who shot him until an investigation was complete.

Letter to Myself 8/18/14

Future Self:
     The goals I wish to be accomplished this year is to complete all assignments on time, maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher, and to graduate. In the next 5 years, I wish to have been accepted into Marshall University's College of Science, and have received a Bachelor's Degree in both Digital Forensic Science and Criminal Justice. In the next 10 years, I want to work as a forensic scientist in some branch of government or law enforcement, and to be on the path to a successful life.
                                                                                      -Past Self