Class Video: The Highest Court In The Land Remains Supreme

The Supreme Court of the United States of America has proven to be a vital part of the American government. Without it, there would be no official ruling branch on what is and isn't constitutional.

Every year, thousands of petitions flood the court in hopes of a fighting chance. With nearly 100 new cases a week, the court justices must decide which cases hold the most importance and are in need of individual consideration.

As demanding of a job serving on the Supreme Court is, most justices serve for an average of 16 years according to a video we viewed in class.  In total there have only been a little over 100 justices in the court's history. To serve in such an important position for that amount of time deserves a tremendous amount of respect from the American people.

Though we now see the Supreme Court as a major and necessary part of government, it wasn't always seen that way. Prior to chief justice John Marshall, the court was not taken as seriously and didn't even have its own building. With the help of his leadership, the court quickly gained more respect and consideration as a co-equal branch.

Even though Marshall changed the perception of the court in a good way, it does have many blackeyes in its history. One example of this was the Dred Scott decision in 1857.  The court determined that they "could not give blacks freedom" and that they would never be free citizens. Of course, the 14th amendment would change that ruling when passed in 1866.  

The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said, "We the people was composed of a very small portion of those inhabiting these shores."  She went on to say that even though the court didn't embrace all people once before, they do today.

A common misconception of the Supreme Court is that its cases and discussions are kept very secretive.  However, justices want the American people to know this couldn't be further from the truth.  There is no type of inside story like other forms of government may have.

When the justices meet to discuss a case, they always start with shaking one another's hand.  This process reiterates the common purpose to make the best decision according to the constitution.  As an American citizen, this process makes me feel good because of how awful political agendas have become in other forms of government.  With this common purpose of protecting constitutional rights in mind, justices try to leave political opinions at the door.

Though we may not always agree with the decisions from the Supreme Court, we must always take into account how hard these men and women are working for the maintaining of our rights.

Research: A First Amendment Current Event

During a recent class, we were asked to research a current first amendment issue happening around the country. One of the most present right now is the permanent Twitter suspension of U.S. President, Donald Trump. 

On January 8th of this year, Twitter released a statement saying they’d permanently suspended the personal account of the President due to the risk of “further incitement of violence.” This sent many conservative users into an uprise, causing some to also be banned from the platform, and many others to freely leave on their own.

Alongside the argument that the President had not incited violence in his speech and subsequent tweets, many claimed Twitter had violated the President’s first amendment. However, as scholars of the first amendment, we know the government is the only thing that legally isn't allowed to take this freedom away. 

“Congress shall make no law,” tells us that a private company like Twitter has every right to limit our speech on their platform. We also submit to this when accepting the terms and conditions after joining the service. But should Twitter be allowed to silence the President of the United States over their far-fetched description of incitement? That opens a whole new can of worms to discuss. 

The issue of censorship is more present than ever. With unelected big-tech moguls like Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Jeff Bezos, and others controlling our modern-day platforms of communication, should the government allow such powerful people make these decisions? It’s hard for me to believe that just because someone doesn’t agree with a certain political view of these big-tech leaders, they can be silenced completely. 

The scariest part is it isn’t limited to just these well-known social platforms. Even our cellphone providers have taken conservative apps and social media companies off of their app stores, making it nearly impossible to reach these alternative platforms.

With the amount of control these companies have over our everyday lives, the government must ask itself if these actions should be legal. I would encourage our citizens to continue speaking up, but how can they if they’re censored so heavily because of it?  

About Me: 5 Major Sources of News

In times like today, news can be found just about everywhere you look.  However, finding a source that fits you is getting harder and harder.  As we now enter a period of major censorship, this trend will certainly continue.  I personally like to view news from sources that have different perspectives and then compare them.

The first and likely biggest way I get news is from Twitter. The easiness of navigating Twitter is what made me so attracted to the platform.  Right as you click on the search button, you’re met with headlines and trends of that day's top stories.  Coverage of sports, pop culture, politics, and global happenings can all be found in one place. However, with the new outburst of censorship, it’s getting harder and harder to trust this source.

The second place I get my news is actually from the mobile app TikTok.  The app is designed with an algorithm that picks video content sent directly to the user's “for you page.”  Due to the app noticing my interest in politics and sports, my page shows a lot of breaking stories within those labels.  With an audience of one billion active users monthly, new sources and random users alike can express their feelings toward a certain story.

A third-place I get news is from Apple News.  Adding to the trend of easy access, Apple News is a program that has been installed on each Apple device since 2015.  When unlocking your phone, a simple swipe to the left can produce what Apple has determined the day's top headlines. Another large advantage to this source is setting notifications for certain topics.  If you’d like to see news about politics, you can get your phone to notify you whenever a political story drops.

My fourth news source would be FOX News within the television side of things.  As shown in my list, television has started to fade within news reporting.  With the few already mentioned social media sources, news can be found and navigated a lot easier among the younger generation.  However, when I have time I do still appreciate the commentary of television news.  I watch FOX News because they have such a different take on certain issues than those at other television outlets.  In efforts to try and stay well-rounded, I will then move to a different television outlet for the opposite take. 

My last source of news would be NBC or ABC news.  As mentioned above, in my effort to stay well-rounded, I will move from FOX News to a source like NBC or ABC to see the opposite viewpoint.  I feel this is a good strategy to follow as news today is heavily biased and seeing both sides allows you to make your own opinion on certain matters.  I feel we must stay open thinkers in today’s world and this practice allows me to do that.