Free Speech Essay. Pick One of the following topics and write a 2-3page (single spaces, 12-point font, Times New Roman) essay using what you learned throughout the semester to explain how you would address the issue. What is background of the issue? What can be done? How would you fund the effort? What population would this affect?
When Is It Legal for the Police to Search and Seize My Property or Me?
What’s It About? Often young people are profiled by law enforcement for search and seizure, especially in states and locales where drug laws are aggressively enforced. The Issue? What are a citizen’s rights regarding lawful and unlawful search and seizure? Where do those rights come from?
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/_video.true/mypoliscilab-2017-AmGov-Search_and_Seizure
- What is the gist of the Supreme Court’s decision in Terry v. Ohio (1968)? Why did the defense cite the Fourth Amendment as grounds for dismissing Terry’s conviction for carrying a concealed weapon?
- What is the source of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures?
- Why has stop-and-frisk policing been criticized as “indirect racial profiling”? In your opinion, is the criticism justified?
- Since the Terry decision, “reasonable suspicion” is the standard by which police may lawfully detain people and conduct searches. Is a new standard needed? What new standard do you envision?
Can Totally Free Speech Lead to Less Inclusive Discussion?
What’s It About? The First Amendment guarantees every American the right to free speech. But in an increasingly diverse country with seemingly louder-than-ever fringe groups, some people are beginning to question this right. The Issue? Is the right to free speech as free as we think? Free Speech Essay.
- Why was Google able to terminate the employment of a software engineer who wrote a memo blasting the company’s efforts to promote diversity? Is the firing of that employee evidence that free speech is under threat in corporate America?
- When is speech subject to prosecution?
- When, if ever, should speech on a college campus be limited?
- What is the role of the marketplace of ideas in debates about the freedom of speech?
What Are “Executive” Actions and Do They Give the President Too Much Power?
What’s It About? The American system of government is predicated on an intricate system of checks and balances. But in times of divided government, presidents from both parties have bypassed Congress and instead have relied on executive actions to achieve policy goals. The Issue? What are the merits of executive action? What are its deficiencies? Free Speech Essay. Use APA referencing style.
https://mediaplayer.pearsoncmg.com/assets/_video.true/mypoliscilab-2017-AmGov-Executive_Actions
- What distinguishes executive actions from laws?
- What three forms can executive actions take? Why are executive orders numbered?
- What recourse does Congress have to check executive actions? How else can executive actions be challenged? Are these checks sufficient for maintaining the balance of power among federal, legislative, and judicial branches of government?
- Can you identify any commonalities that characterize the circumstances that may have led Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, and Bush, respectively, to issue the executive orders that interned Japanese Americans during World War II (in 1942), integrated the U.S. armed forces (in 1948), and established the Office of Homeland Security (in 2001)?