Election Test

There is one thing that it takes to win a political campaign and that is money. Money of all kinds one being hard money or the legal way of contributing money to a political party or campaign that comes from voluntary contributors; there is a regulation on this and a max that you are allowed to contribute. On the other hand there is the illegal way called soft money; money that has been given to a certain political party which in turn gets put into a campaign, these are mostly given by PAC’s. A PAC is also known as Political Action Committees (PACs) organizations created by corporations, labor unions, or interest groups that give money to a chosen political affiliation that they would like to influence. Over time since soft money became illegal 527’s became popular in the campaign world. A 527 are nonprofit groups that do not give money to support a candidate but to support a cause. This is the loophole to soft money because depending if you are democratic or republican it determines where you stand on an issue which in turn indirectly supports a particular candidate. Though money should not have such a great factor as it does its not the only thing that gets the politicians message and campaign across it is also because of the media. Though there is media bias, this is the slant to one side or the other of the political spectrum based on network or journalists personal opinion. Many people give money to networks for commercials that usually bash their opponents and attempt to strengthen their campaign. Another great part of the election is was Political Party the groups or organizations that try to influence government issues and government as a whole by electing their members to political offices. The fact that a person not only learns about what party they should support by what their parents stand for is one of the greatest contributors to this decision but also because of what they believe in. This then in turn affects the voter turnout, the amount of voters that actually voted based on everyone that is registered. The fact that we have had a low voter turn out is a bad sign because you are not getting a true representation of what the people want because the decision is skewed to the few that did vote. All the factors that go into electing political offices is not truly democratic at all because it is to biased because of money but also because of the electoral college. To be truly democratic each vote would be counted as it stands so that a certain number of people can change or overrule the popular vote as they see fit. Many reasons cause this process to be undemocratic but it is a system that works even though it could be changed a little to become more democratic it is a system that we have used for our entire history.

Civil Liberties Test

What happens when freedoms and protections collide? For many cases there have been questionable actions on both the individual and the government. One of these cases is Near V Minnesota which involves the first amendment. In this case Jay Near published an article attacking a local official saying they were involved with gangsters. Near then was not allowed to publish the paper using an injunction. The freedom of press and the protection of the local official were the things at stake in this case. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Near because he has the right to publish an article even if it could ruin the reputation of the local official. The fact that the government had the ability to stop a newspaper so that they could protect their reputations is an abuse of power and they should not have done something to ruin them if they did not want people to slander them. Though we have this freedom when it comes to newspapers in towns of cities many students do not have this ability because of a law of in loco parentis which is the administration acts as a “parental figure” when deciding what is appropriate for the students to see watch and reed. A case showing this was Bethel V Fraser. In this case Fraser made a speech for a friend running for a school elected office. At the assembly his speech was taken as a graphic sexual metaphor and was suspended from school for two days. This case was about the first amendment and his freedom of speech. Fraser lost the case because of in loco parentis and the idea that in school you have less freedoms the second you walk in because they have to protect you even more than when you are just in town. Though the speech said nothing actually vulgar it was taken in the wrong way and Fraser was suspended, I feel this is not something that should be done because if there was no actual evidence of any sexual acts then it should be allowed to be seen because in high school many of the students watch and hear even more vulgar things on TV, movies, or any were they go. Another case that is important is Mapp V Ohio which involves the fourth amendment. In this case Dollree Mapp was convicted of possessing obscene material after an illegal search of her house for a fugitive. The fact that it was an illegal search and that the warrant they were using was a fact brought this to the Supreme Court. The evidence they found at her house was not allowed to be acted upon one because of the fact that it was an illegal search of the house and two that what they were looking for was a fugitive not the obscene material. The Supreme Court ruled that the information or the evidence was not allowed to be used in court. This I believe to be true because the only way you can go in without a warrant is plain view so if they see drugs or obscene material they can go in and confiscate it, reasonable suspicion and probable cause. The last case that deals with the fourteenth amendment is Goss V Lopez. In this case nine students were given ten day suspensions from school without a hearing. This was considered to be violating the student’s rights under the fourteenth amendment of due process. Once taken to the Supreme Court and that even the students have the right to a trail just like everyone else does. In this case the students have the same freedoms as any citizen and are not allowed to be suspended or expelled without a proper trail. I feel this to be one of the rights that are good to be enforced because it allows someone who should not be suspended to have a chance to prove it.

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