Abortion

1. After looking at each website thoroughly, I could understand each side of the debate. On one hand, some of the methods of abortion like partial birth seem to be inhumane and cruel. In a partial birth, the doctor inserts scissors into the back of the baby’s skull and widens the wound and inserts suction into the head and sucks the brain out. This method stuck out to me as being epically horrible, but I know that this is rarely if ever used as an abortion method. I also see the other side, their website wants to protect the safety of these doctors and nurses that provide women with abortions. They also want birth-control and proper sex education to be readily available to teens. This seems to be the best cure for this issue. If more people were educated about sex and were using birth control, some of these unwanted pregnancies would not exist. I think the pro-choice have a better argument and the angle they are taking seems to be a lot more responsible and pro-active.
2. I think every girl that is 17 or 18 thinks about what they would do if they got pregnant, but it is much easier to say you will do something when it doesn’t happen to you. I think parents do have a legal right to know if their child is under the age of 18. They are still living under their parent’s house and relaying on them financially. If some complication occurs medically, it is extremely important for the parents to know the surgery took place and what to expect afterwards. Having said that, I don’t think they should have to consent the abortion. In the end it is the girl’s choice and body, not her parents.
3. I believe that the mother of the unborn baby should have the choice to tell the father, but should not be required to. In many chases of abortion, the mother and father are unwed and might not even be dating, therefore notifying the father might be unnecessary. I do not think the father should have to give consent to go through with the abortion. The father does not have the baby in side of him for 9 mouths, the mother does. The father can always change his mind and back out, leaving the mother to raise a baby on her own, which is a very difficult task. So I think that informing the father should be up to the mother, and not a law.
4. Illinois has a law that states “the provision of any abortion procedure that falls within a broad definition a felony, unless necessary to preserve the life of a woman endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, and no other medical procedure will suffice.” Illinois basically tried to make having an abortion a crime. This is not fair for those young mothers that can’t support a baby and have no other ways out. I do not agree with this law, and that is why it is not enforced currently in Illinois. I would change this law, and make abortions legal for those who need them. We also have a law that says that abortions are not covered under health care. I actually agree with this, I do not think the tax payers should have to pay for an abortion, the women made the choices she made and the tax payers should not have to pay for her to fix it. Having said that, I still think abortions should be available to those who want them, I just think that the women should have to find a way to pay for it. 

Death Penalty #3

• In the beginning of all the death penalty cases, the defendant must first be proven guilty.  Once they’re guilty, they go through a penalty phase trial. At this trial they decide whether the crime was bad enough to receive the death penalty. After this, they can appeal. Then there is another post-conviction review where evidence can be newly considered and misconduct of jury members and other things like that.  Then they go through Federal Habeas Corpus, this ensures that the prisoners arrest is legal. Then they may go on to ask for Clemency from the governor and that would pardon their death penalty, and give them a less punishment of jail time.   One the website they say that most evidence is provided either from an eye witness or a confession. I recently have been learning about memory in my Psychology class. We learned that eye witnesses rarely ever know who the person is and most eye witnesses chooses the wrong person as the murder or rapist.  I think that the stages put in place, so a good job making sure that the crime fits the punishment, but I think that they could go through another case, with another jury to be 100% positive that the defendant is indeed guilty of the crime.

• The most humane method of execution would be lethal injection. The inmate is given a chemical that puts them to sleep, then one that stops their muscle functions and stops them from breathing, and then they get a shot that stops their heart. Even though none of these ways are human, this is the most painless way to be executed. I think the method of hanging is considered cruel and unusual punishment; there are so many things that could go wrong and potentially make someone die and slow and painful death. If the prisoner has strong neck muscles, or the drop is too short, or something goes wrong with the rope, then it’s basically torture. Even more extreme then hanging, Firing squad causes the inmates to die from lose of blood, which means it is a very slow and painful death. The inmate is shot by five shooters to ensure his death.

• This data has opened my eyes to the amount of death row inmates around the country. There is over 400 in Florida alone, I always though that there would be two or three in each state. Seeing the amount of inmates that were sentenced in the south alone was unbelievable. I can see that the South is very strongly in favor of capital punishment. Another thing I noticed about the death penalty was that it seems to be pretty based on race. In Georgia 51 out of 53 of the executed were African American, and in Alabama 96 out of 100 executed were African American. This tells me that our system of capital punishment has a lot of flaws as well as our justice system.

• This information further supported my opinion about capital punishment. This article proved that the death penalty system was actually more expensive than then life in jail. The death penalty system is very racist, having a majority of the death row inmates be black, with white victims. 48% of people are against the death penalty and for life in jail. 65% of people were in support of the death penalty, which is down from 80% in 1994. This source clearly was against capital punishment. There statistics were very powerful and shocking. I think most people that read this would start to think in the way of the writer. They did not include anything about the victims of these murders. I would want to know what percent of the victims families were against the death penalty.

Death Penalty (Clifford Boggess)

In the Frontline movie about Clifford Boggess I found myself confused about my position on his case. Part of me knew he was a cold blooded murderer and realized that there is something seriously wrong with him. An other part of me felt like he had changed and that his death row experience had made him truly sorry for the murders he had committed and trusted his new way of life. He fully admitted to his crimes and knew that he did something wrong. But then again, when his ex-girlfriend was interviewed she knew he was a threat to society and wanted him to die because he was threnting her. I personally don't believe in the death penalty. I can understand a families want for the murderer of their loved ones to die, but I think suffering in jail is a lot worse then spending a couple years on death row and being then being done with life. Boggess is a prime example of a criminal, he is manipulating and can swing situations in his favor. I still believe he is a horrible person, with little repentance, but I don't think he should have died. Some people my have justified the lives he took, with this own death, but its just a cycle. We can't teach AAmericans that it's okay to solve violence with violence.

Bullying

The movie about Jamie Nabozny revealed the troubles that occur in our school system regarding bullying. I never realized that there was so much discrimination, and harassment in Americas schooling system. Jamie was constantly being threatened, and physically beat up by his peers. When he couldn't take it anymore he tried to take his life, and when that failed, he ran away. He couldn't take the abuse everyday and was not looking forward to moving on to high school, unlike all the other kids at his middle school. His family had no choice but to send him back to school. Jamie called this is last straw and ran away to Minneapolis his parents knew he had to stay there for his own safety. Jamie ended up suing the school, for their non-involvement in his situation. The school system throughout his middle and high school career never interjected to protect Jamie. In the court case, the school administration was found guilty of failure to stop the harassment. Jamie and his family won 900,000 dollars. This is not a unique case, we looked into a lot of other cases having to do with bullying. Rachael Neblett was a regular 17-year old girl she was a happy cheerleader with a lot of friends. She started to get threatening text messages and let it go on, when she told the school officials they said they would keep an eye on Rachael and make sure she was safe. She ended up killing herself because of the acts of this person.
Bullying at DHS does not seem to be very apparent. I notice some groups of people not getting along but I have never seen someone phycially bully others. The most bullying I see is on the day of Pep Rally. All the grades are divided, and the students are all excited to be apart of their grade. I have personally seen seniors yell at freshman and even give a little shove. It doesn't go beyond that, and I don't notice it during a regular day at Deerfield. Our school does not have a big problem with bullying and therefore we don't need to do anything in percussion. I think that our students have an understanding of respect for each other. There may be something every once in a while that would be considered bullying, but its not to an extent of hatred or harassment. I think our school would benefit from a "Challenge Day" like they had in If You Really Knew Me. Not necessarily because of a bullying problem, but each student would be able to get to know each other on a more personal level. Its always nice to interact with students that you don't always hang out with and can broaden the relationships that develop in high school.

Student Cell Phone Search

In this article, a student got her cell phone taken away for violating the cell phone policy at school. When the principle conviscated the cell phone, he searched it and found naked pictures of her. The search of the contents of her cell phone was unnessisery and a violation of her fourth amendment right. She got in trouble for using her cell phone, which gives no reason to search through her text messages, photos and videos. In New Jersey vs. T.L.O  the desending opionion states that "to search a student they have reason to believe that the search will uncover evidence that the student is violating the law or engaging in conduct that is serisoulydisruptive of school order, or the educational process" The principle should not have searched through her phone, because there was no reason to beleieve that she has anything inapproriate.  the article states, "akin to browsing through someone’s address and appointment book, opening and reading letters sent by U.S. mail, and rummaging through a family photo album or viewing home videos.” By searching her phone, the adminstration is completely violating her rights.

Drug Testing in Schools

I believe that the administration of public schools has the right to drug test student athletes. In regards to the Constitution it is legal because of the fact that the fourth amendment has certain restrictions in a public school. In Vernonia v. Acton the courts came to a conclusion that the drug testing of student athletes was constitutional. In Petitioners vs. Lindsay Earls the court found it constitutional for the drug testing of any student in an activity to be drug tested, not just students involved in sports. By doing this to their athletes the administration is trying to create a safe environment for the athletes and teachers. Along with making a successful athlete program, these random drug tests can steer students away from drugs and led them to a clean and heathy life style. Some people might argue that it is an invasion of privacy. According to the FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy) it states that "all student drug-testing records shall be kept strictly confidential in accordance with written school policy."  Drug testing is done for one reason, and that's to keep students safe, and it is not a violation of privacy.

Religion In Schools

           Our first amendment clearly states that " Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" When our country was founded, the same principals were important then as they are now. Since  public education is founded by the government, there should be the same regulations in schools as in our country. By having a bias free learning environment, students can learn and make their own judgments and choices. 
              Most people would agree with me when I say that Church and State should be septate. In some cases, we see certain teachers trying to preach their personal religions on to their students. This is a choice that should be made by the student outside of school and its not fair to pressure or convince young kids into exploring a certain religion.  The reading from the First Amendment Center gives great examples,  "From the “Bible wars” of the 19th century to current fights over posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms," It has been a long lived debate in this country and  I trust that the separation is the best thing for our children and country. 

September 11th Movie

In my issues class we watched a documentary on September 11th. This movie documented the event and the six days fallowing the tragedy in New York. What really affected me about this movie was how different my perspective was to that day then New Yorkers. I remember feeling fear and confusion like the rest of America, but when something like this happens to your city, the emotions are so much stronger and intense. Some of the footage shot by these regular people showed me how in our time of need, our country can come together and form a unity of strength. When the citizens of New York all gathered on one street just to thank the firefighters and emergency response teams, it showed how compassionate people can be. Everyone was helping each other in anyway they could. This was a time that people, not only in New York but all through out America, came together and showed true patriotism and unity. I enjoyed this movie a lot and thought its message was very positive.  

Speech Codes

I think speech codes are very important to the safety and comfort of the students in these insitutions. It's important to have some restrictions on a college campus, but it is also important that no one's freedom of speech is being largly affected. A good speech code, is a healthy balance between the college's rules and regulations and the students right to freedom of speech.