BLOG #3: EIGHT VALUES OF FREE EXPRESSION

 The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 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.

The Eight Values of Free Expression is how we practice our first amendment rights and how it could benefit us within the society. The values include marketplace of ideas, participation in self government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on governmental power, promoting tolerance, promoting innovation and protecting dissent. Out of the eight values, the one that resonates with me the most is promoting innovation. Promoting innovation means that a "community in which free speech is valued and protected is likely to be more energized, creative, interesting society as its citizens actively fulfill themselves in many diverse and innovative ways".

In todays generation, everything is mostly based on evolving and innovating and I feel as a millennial I have experienced most of this. Growing up, I have experienced technology evolving and becoming more impactful in todays society. We have seen countless technology be revealed throughout the years and have noticed many changes. Technology including cellphones, computers, headphones, televisions and so much more. We rely on these technologies to have access to social media which gives us information about what is going on in todays world. 

Promoting innovation happens in my every day life since we learn something new everyday. Whether this means updates on news, learning new information in class or just learning new information from our peers. In class, we discuss different news articles that relates to the topics we learn in class that day. There are new rules and laws that become established every day and are always shared on the news. A new example would be the new covid variant, Omicron is what is trending around the news today. With this new variant, there will probably be new regulations in place once the variant comes to the United States regarding masks mandates and quarantine rules.

No matter what it is, promoting innovation happens every day and could be revelant to anyone. We learn about new ideas every single which make us into the people we are. Learning new things every day is how we evolve has human beings and how we cope with todays era.

BLOG #2: SUPREME COURT

                                   The Supreme Court

         Before reading the SCOTUS reading and watching the two videos about the Supreme   Court I was not sure of what I had known and not known about the Supreme Court. Growing up in Washington D.C., I was highly educated on the Supreme Court so I was curious on what more I had to learn from the reading and the two videos. Most importantly, the Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the country and the head of the judicial branch. As said in the Constitution, the Supreme Court has ultimate jurisdiction over all of the laws within the United States and has the right to the final decision of the court. In 1789, the Supreme Court was established by Article Three of the Constitution which also granted Congress the power to create inferior federal courts.

Supreme Court (Washington DC)

George Washington specified in the Judiciary Act of 1789 that the court would have six justices who would serve in the Supreme Court until they retired or deceased. The president has the power to nominate a Supreme Court justice during their 4 year term. Nowadays, the Supreme Court is made up of nine justices which has the power to check the two other branches of government; legislative and judicial. The justices of the Supreme Court had decided final decisions on major cases such as Dred Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education and so many more. On August 3rd 1791, the supreme court justices handed out there first decision which was based on the West v. Barnes case; a case involving a financial dispute between a farmer and a family he owned debt too. 

The Chief Justice has the highest power in the Supreme Court and is responsible for planning weekly meetings. In a situation where the Chief Justice is in the majority opinion, he has the authority to assign the court opinion. (Fun fact: I've had the opportunity to meet the current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts Jr.!)

I think the most interesting thing I learned about the Supreme Court is what happens in the decision-making. In Part II of the video, it states that a judiciary and the court have no secrets and the inside story of the court is that "there is no inside story". When the Supreme Court hears cases from the public, the lawyers on each side of the court of 30 minutes to make their arguments before the court. Justice Scalia said that being in the court is an exciting experience. It feels like there's only you and nine other people in the court room and you start to lose a sense of reality.

Like said before, whoever is standing before the court only has 30 minutes to state their argument. There can be 3-5 judges standing in the court depending on the case so that makes it more difficult to juggle all the information because they all want to announce their opinions and say what needs to be said. 

Links: 

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca8qSuWxcG8

5 NEWS SOURCES: BLOG 1

       MY FIVE TOP SOURCES OF NEWS & INFORMATION

Washington Post

According to Washington Post, it is said that this is the most popular and reliable news source. Being from outside of DC, I have grown up reading from this popular news source and have learned lots of information from it that was used in high school. I use this news source for updated news information happening in the government and in DC, Maryland and Virginia. The Washington Post is my go-to news source because it was always updated with information that was relevant to the area I grew up in and if I wanted to learn about what was going on in the government.

NY Times

The New York Times is also a popular news source that most people in the United States use on a daily basis. This is a trustworthy news source that has updated information about events that has happened in New York and around the world. Since New York is such a popular city, this newspaper has become popular nationally. I use this source if I choose against watching the news and if I want tor read about what's going on around the world whether it has to do with politics, sports, pop culture, etc.

CNN

CNN is my go-to news channel to watch on television. CNN shares information locally, nationally, and globally. On CNN, I can receive news that include fashion, sports, world news, health updates, pop culture and so much more. CNN is on 24/7 and I can always count on it to update me with what is going on in the present, no matter what time of day it is. I am not one to usually watch the news, but when I do watch it this is what I usually go to.

NBC

NBC aka, The National Broadcasting Company is the most entertaining news source. NBC is located in New York City's Time Square and you can go there to watch the Today Show live every morning. NBC not only shares news such as pop culture, politics, etc; but it is also a television channel that most people use to watch popular movies and tv shows. I love watching NBC because I get quality entertainment and news all at once.

Twitter

Twitter is probably the most unreliable news source but its the most easy to access just right through my phone. Twitter is a platform where people post their thoughts on certain things whether it's about their day, or whatever is trending around the world or on twitter. Twitter's main focus is pop culture and that is where most influencers post updates about what's going on in their life. This platform also has trending hashtags that update every once in a while and it could be about anything going on in the world or on the internet. Twitter is definitely the most entertaining platform to get news, but definitely the most unreliable because people just post what they want whether its controversial or not.