Tuesday, January 28, 2020

The Founding Era: The Supreme Court





The supreme court is responsible for a variety of duties to the people. Many issues are decided within the court, and it is easily the most powerful court in the US. They abide by rules and laws that have been in play for centuries. Over the years there have been on average 100 supreme court justices appointed by the president. Once appointed they have a high standard to uphold and many laws to abide by. Often times, it is their job to draw lines between the government power and individual powers. Making sure that the government isn't overstepping their boundaries. The court uses the constitution to resolve a variety of problems within the United States. While all justices have their own opinion on the matter, one thing stays constant, the obedience to the constitutions main values and laws. Justices receive thousands of cases once a week that they are responsible for themselves. Cases are after a trail court, questioning if everything is constitutional. Then the grout decides which cases are severe enough to be accepted into the actual Supreme Court. This takes awhile, and isn't an easy or quick process. If the case isn't accepted, it goes back to the hands of the regular government. When it is accepted , you come into the court and give your oral argument to make sure a justice hasn't overlooked anything within the case.You argue within 9 other justices with questions and thoughts being thrown around. Picking out normally the one focused argument that matters most to the court is the one focused on. Then they all vote to decide the case, one writes an opinion writing and reasoning to decide on cases. Justices can disagree with the courts choice, but must state why. They can then be persuaded otherwise in order to create a bigger majority. All of this takes around 3 months to accomplish. The press is notified once the court has decided.

However, the supreme court didn't always obtain this much power. In the 1800s the question of slavery created distrust and problems within The Court, before the constitution was amended. Many years and changes to the constitution such of the adding of the bill of rights, went into creating what the Supreme court now uses within the justice system. The respect and trust given to the supreme court today is a drastic change from what it was like decades ago.  Only the best of the best cases get accepted into the supreme court, and usually become a public argument by the time the trials end. There are supreme cases currently happening within our society such as Trump v. Vance and Trump V. Mazars. 

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Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Should Instagram posts be considered a 1st amendment right?




Retrieved from google Images
 December 30th 2019, in Bay City MI-

The father of a local high school teen has filled a lawsuit against the Freeland Community School District in regards to his son receiving expulsion for creating an offensive instagram making fun of a current biology teacher at the school. His lawyer claims that his son is within his constitutional rights and therefore shouldn't be punished for his actions. As well as punishment should be implemented by his guardians  not the school. He defends his actions as a "parody" account and was only created out of amusement and fun, not to be offensive. and the child claimed he has no other intentions with the account. The principle Traci Smith claimed that the posts "deemed as inappropriate" as well as used the biology professors name within the username, therefore disrupting his privacy as a teacher. While no pictures or direct references were made regarding the teacher, it was still deemed a problem by the school board.  It was also noted that the student was obligated to know the student handbook guidelines which were not abided by in this case due to respect for higher ups such as teachers.

After deliberation the court decided a hearing wasn't necessary for the magnitude of this case. Due to the student handbook misconduct  the expulsion of the student remained to be 10 days due to school policy. While the court is still deliberating whether the father has the right to file for these 1st amendment rights and take it further, it is taken into consideration that the child performed this act outside of school, and did not cause any disruptions to the school directly. However, again referencing the student handbook is a conflict of interest on the students behalf. 

In my opinion I think that this case could go either way. The fact that the kid used the biology teachers name within the account could be considered him taking his identity and possibly acting as a "catfish" in a way. However, i also think that because this didnt happen within the school and it didnt ruin the teachers reputation or creditability, there was no harm done in making the account. Thus he is able to use freedom of speech but im not sure if this also plies on social media platforms. I especially think that because none of the posts were offensive or highly inappropriate that the childs intentions were nothing but out of fun. Therefore im not sure how this case will turn out but i can see both sides. 


Related Articles- 
https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2020/01/school-violated-students-1st-amendment-rights-over-parody-instagram-account-lawsuit-claims.html