Supreme Court

The Supreme Court receives thousands of petitions every year asking them to hear cases. In public courtrooms, important questions our nation faces are argued. The Supreme Courts authority is in the Constitution, but its power comes from the faith the public has in them to interpret the Constitution. They are expected to defend Liberty, protect the Union, and maintain the rule of law.

On the Supreme Court, the justices are appointed by the president and serve an average of 16 years, but some are on the bench much longer. Justices have a responsibility to the law, the institution, and to their integrity. The public has no direct capability to affect the decision of the court through voting, thus, showing the importance of the appointment process.

The Supreme Court is tasked with telling the president, Congress, and the States what they can and cannot do. After 200 years, the American people have acknowledged the authority of the court. When the government of the United States moved to Washington, John Marshall was named chief justice. For the first time in Marbury vs Madison the highest judicial power was used overturning an act of Congress as unconstitutional. Including this first time, the Supreme Court has deemed acts of Congress unconstitutional 182 times.

During the years Marshall was chief justice the court earned the respect of the public; however, 20 years later the court tackled the most troublesome issue in the history of the United States. Dred Scott, a slave who claimed he was a freeman under an act of Congress. The court ruled that Congress did not have the power to ban slavery and that black people could not be citizens. This decision is remembered as one of the darkest moments. After the Civil War, the constitution was amended adding the Fourteenth Amendment, telling states they could not withhold the due process of law or equal protection to any citizen.

The Supreme Court has to wait for the people to bring the issues to the court via petition in order for the court to do anything about the issue. When the Supreme Court hears a case, the lawyers on each side get 30 minutes to share their arguments prior to the oral argument. Currently, on the Supreme Court website, there are transcripts and audio of the oral arguments. Within a couple of days following hearing the arguments the justices assemble in a room alone to vote on the case. An opinion describing the legal reasons for the verdict is written by one of the justices on the majority side. Every other court will hold this opinion in future cases, these are announced in late June at the end of the term.

 

Free Speech and Boycotts

Long ago, Americans were given the right to exercise freedom of speech and free petition.  We have the right to speak our minds on a street corner and we have the right to choose whether or not to participate in a boycott. A boycott, divestment and sanctions movement called BDS has boycotts against Israeli companies, events, and businesses. Based on BDS’s website, they are protesting the treatment of Palestinians by Israelis’. Right or wrong, they have the free choice to boycott. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote a bill that is under much debate. There is a provision in this foreign policy bill that would give states a right to punish companies that boycott Israel or Israeli-owned companies. Here stands the violation of free petition. Whether for or against boycotts, once our government allows states to punish Israel boycotters, freedom to petition is at risk. The issue of free petition is not an international issue, nor is it a conservative or liberal campaign issue; it is a First Amendment issue. Plain and simple, federal protection allowing states to penalize or punish non-violent boycotting is an encroachment on free petition. Whether one is for BDS or anti-BDS, it is a personal choice and should not be regulated by punitive actions by our government. But then again, it never really is about boycotts or Israel, but more about the state of affairs between and among the Democratic and Republican parties. 

https://nyulocal.com/nyu-student-groups-endorse-bds-7a7de79a6808

Choice of words

Sometimes I wonder if a person is freer to say what they want now with all the progressive movement or do they feel more scared to voice their opinion. What if someone does not like their beliefs or the ideas they have, will they worry about getting fired? We have James Damore who was fired from Google and a schoolteacher who was fired from a Virginia school because of word choices. The First Amendment is about the freedom of speech and being fired over words causes one to think if the First Amendment is adhered to as it should be. Right or wrong, conservative or liberal, religious or not, the First Amendment is to protect the freedom of speech. Perhaps as a society, we should all practice proper word choice so that our freedom to speak is done with tact and eloquence. There is a way to get the point across without using disrespectful and hurtful words. Maybe now that we have instant media, we should take a moment before posting a comment that may later get us fired like in the case of a daycare worker who posted on Facebook that she hated working at the daycare and also really hated being around a lot of kids. 

In an age where social media is used for connecting with one another, we now find the issue of innocent yet immature statements and impulsively posting is causing people to lose their jobs. In 2005 roughly 5% of Americans used social media of some kind, and in 2018 it jumped to 69% based on the Pew Research Center. We may disapprove of what another person says but in America we have the incredible freedom to say those words, but perhaps we could choose our words more carefully when getting our point across.

Media and the Abuse of Free Speech

In recent news we seem to see the media vilify the innocent, smear a person’s name and falsely accuse and all for ratings and being the first to get it out there in the cyber world?  What happened to doing a little bit of research before rushing to judgment. The media ruined the life of the supposed Olympic bomber by falsely accusing Richard Jewell.  Then there was the media falsely reporting that President Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about the Trump Tower project.

In the case of Nick Sandmann where media, celebrities, and social media rushed to judge, threaten and condemned him as a disrespectful racist. It was entirely uncalled for and demeaning and demoralizing to the teen.  We have a right to free speech but to what extent does the First Amendment allow citizens to dehumanize another person with words.  Media’s aggressive use of free speech leads us to wonder where are we in the state of free speech. The press is to bring us news and tells us things we may or may not want to hear and may not agree with, but it should do so with the choice of words that no matter what the content it can be heard by all.

The Printing Press

In the third week of class, Dr. Smith gave a fascinating lecture about the spread of innovations and the democratization of the media. The first invention that we discussed was the invention of the printing press in 1430. This innovation was unprecedented, and it allowed information to spread more rapidly than ever before. At the time of its invention, a vast majority of the population could not read or write. The device of the printing press threatened people in power who could read and write because they were scared of losing their control over those who could not. An article on the Flow of History website talks about the impact of the printing press and about how with the new invention, the Church no longer had control over articles that were being written. Now documents that the Church did not approve and threatened its power could be printed in mass. As a result, those who were scared of losing power started to put laws into place that helped them preserve their power. 

The printing press democratized communication, but a downside was that because of it the first licensing laws appeared. This was the beginning of prior restraint and subsequent punishment. They would put a prior restraint on publications stopping them before the writing was published, or give a subsequent penalty by punishing the author after something had been published. The elites who were scared to lose power and were trying to save their power by using prior restraints and subsequent punishment, but through this were putting constraints the person. Today this is not allowed because to stop someone from speaking and writing is the same as preventing them from being a person. Freedom to publish one's thoughts is a vital right a person possesses, which is why freedom of speech and the press are protected in the United States under the First Amendment. 

https://www.prepressure.com/printing/history/1400-1499

My Favorite App/Website

As we surge further into the age of technology, new advancements to improve peoples everyday life come up every day. A favorite app of mine that I enjoy using is “DoorDash.” According to its web page, “DoorDash is a technology company that connects people with the best in their cities. We do this by empowering local businesses and in turn, generate new ways for people to earn, work and live. We started by facilitating door-to-door delivery, but we see this as just the beginning of connecting people with possibility — easier evenings, happier days, bigger savings accounts, wider nets, and stronger communities.” To me, however, it is so much more than that. DoorDash allows you to have access to your favorite meals, while still being able to continue working productively. This app has allowed me to have relaxed in the comfort of my own home, with my favorite foods without having to brave the world after a long day of school and work. It has released the stress of trying to figure out when I will have the time to get my next meal between classes, or between my other on-campus obligations. I can not count the number of times I have relied on this service to make sure I got a full meal during the day.

While I know there is more than one food delivery service available, DoorDash is my favorite because of the values they hold as a company. They employee drivers to help increase the income of minimum wage earning Americans. They also help support local businesses and according to an interview with one of their drivers “People Dash for a variety of reasons: to spend time with their kids, earn extra money, to pay for school, even to exercise and see the world.” All of these are values I support as a consumer, thus making them my favorite app on the market currently.