... a massive problem of violence in our society, these have become a place where young women are being pounced on and raped, where young boys shoot for some chance to sell their illicit drugs, where old folks are trampled for their Social Security benefit check, and finally kids everyday are caught in-between flying bullets during shootouts. Majority of people think that the control of ... does not reduce crime rate in the country. Gross states, "there is no direct correlation between strengthening gun control laws and a reduction in crime rate (Gross 71). In a recent study entitled "Would...

• Word Count: 2270
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... registered partnerships" for same-sex couples. In 2008, Uruguay legalized "cohabitation unions," another type of recognition for same-sex couples, and Ecuador legalized "stable unions" for same-sex couples. The next year (2009), Hungary legalized "registered partnerships" for same- ... partnerships" for same-sex couples in 2010. In 2011, Brazil legalized "stable unions", Ireland legalized "civil partnerships" and Liechtenstein legalized "registered partnerships" for same-sex couples. Also, though Israel does not perform same-sex marriages itself, it has recognized ... however the majority...

• Word Count: 2296
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Court famed Loving, concluding "in commonsense and in a constitutional sense, there is a clear distinction between a marital restriction based merely on race and one based upon the fundamental difference in sex" (Baker v.Nelson [1971]) Therefore, the court refused to consider Baker and McConnell's equal protection claim, "The institution of marriage as a union of man and woman . . . is as old as the book of Genesis " In conclusion, Baker ... and McConnell appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal for "lack of a substantial federal question. " A...

• Word Count: 2327
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... . More restrictions should be put in play because, like most people, if there is an age limit, you could just ask someone else, old enough, to get it for you. Remorseless, criminals are going to carry concealed weapons even if the law states that they cannot be carried. ... the government cannot promise safety. For the time being, "The government cannot guarantee the safety of its citizens. Protecting oneself and family is a personal duty and the government should not impede the ability of responsible adults to defend themselves". With the number of citizens increasing at an ... people t...

• Word Count: 1478
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... ). Lincoln hoped that by reminding the American citizens why this country was founded, they would strive towards a future where everyone could live freely and equally, not under persecution or oppression. Lincoln challenged the people of the time to put effort into the future. Not only did he want ... agenda. Lincoln increased the size of the army without congressional authorization, when the Constitution states that only Congress has the power to raise and support armies. He withdrew $2,000,000 for military purposes without authorization, when the Constitution states that no money can be...

• Word Count: 1438
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the Constitution, feared that the national government would become so powerful that it would eventually destroy the state governments. Also, they dreaded that the executive branch would become a monarchy and the president would become a king. The Federalists - people who were in support of the Constitution - tried to counter these arguments in The Federalist - a series of 85 ... guaranteed by the Constitution. In Santa Fe ISD v. Doe, a student would deliver a prayer over the school's public address system prior to every varsity home football game. Mormon and Catholic families who objec...

• Word Count: 1639
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... law is broken meaning that the Constitution is not being followed either, and how the abuse of power by a President can ruin years of progress in a country's democracy. There is a clear inequality on checks and balances between the Executive branch, Congress and the Supreme Court. Al Gore, in the book Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Political Issues, expresses that Congress didn't ... authorized the addition of the Use of Military Force, and that the administration did looked for other routes to have the correct wording inserted ... command one project without the need to ask for autho...

• Word Count: 1471
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... basis of the fundamental rights that society has. However, we are in constant jeopardy of having those rights violated by such establishment as schools and even the Government. The court case of Engel vs. Vitale went all the way to the Supreme Court whose verdict came to be an ... force a group of Americans to take part in any subject dealing with religion. Examples of this are the Star-Spangled Banner, pledge of allegiance, and prayer. Government officials are supposed to be impartial to religion or, rather, the public is not supposed to know where officials stand on this ... )." In th...

• Word Count: 1311
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... basis of the fundamental rights that society has. However, we are in constant jeopardy of having those rights violated by such establishment as schools and even the Government. The court case of Engel vs. Vitale went all the way to the Supreme Court whose verdict came to be an ... force a group of Americans to take part in any subject dealing with religion. Examples of this are the Star-Spangled Banner, pledge of allegiance, and prayer. Government officials are supposed to be impartial to religion or, rather, the public is not supposed to know where officials stand on this ... )." In th...

• Word Count: 1272
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... act has been in effect, it has already prevented further terrorist attacks on the U.S. by broadening our defenses against conventional weapons and biological warfare ("President"), and questioning the intelligence of law officials ("Terrorist"). Advances such as these, protecting America against terrorist attacks, show that America in ... (Talanian). This lets the FBI examine records from libraries and bookstores to see what a suspected terrorist has read or looked up on a library's computer. Not only does this endanger the public's exercising their rights to read a book or write an e-m...

• Word Count: 2045
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... recognition for valid same-sex marriages violates the United States Constitution's guarantee of equal protection under the law, even under the most deferential standard of review. Accordingly, Kentucky's statutes and constitutional amendment that mandate this denial are unconstitutional (Oyez)." This is the first of two significant rulings passed down by Judge Heyburn in regards to same-sex marriage. Love ... , including intimate choices that define personal identity and beliefs" (Oyez). The head of the dissenting justices, Chief Justice John Roberts, believes that due process is a neces...

• Word Count: 1936
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... nuclear waste gets stored, how much welfare beneficiaries are paid, what rights prisoners enjoy? American federalism answers these questions but on a case-by-case basis through intergovernmental politics and court decisions. (American Government , Page number 51) Historically there were two views about federalism in the United States by the framers of the constitution. Hamilton believed that ... the conditions attached to the grants states receive. For example, if a state builds something with federal money, it must conduct an environmental impact study, pay workers the prevailing wages...

• Word Count: 1375
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... cause or without a search warrant, should be excluded from criminal trials. The exclusionary rule was adopted to prevent abuses by the police and other government officials. The logic followed that if police understand that evidence seized in a manner that violates any of the provisions of the ... 1961 landmark case of Mapp v. Ohio, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the rights of the accused by applying the exclusionary rule to both federal and state criminal trials. Ms. Mapp had been sentenced to a year in jail for possessing pornographic materials seized in a search of her apartment. ....

• Word Count: 1443
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... searching a child suspected of an infraction of school rules (or of the criminal law) would unduly interfere with the maintenance of the swift and informal disciplinary procedures needed in the schools. nor does [the right to privacy for students] require strict requirement that searches be based on probable ... This interpretation of the Fourth Amendment basically amounts to a 'junior version' of the Fourth Amendment for students in public schools. Instead of probable cause and a warrant-which are typically required for a search-a school only needs reasonable suspicion, a much weaker s...

• Word Count: 2436
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: High School

... outcasts. They open up the unity of the country due to the disenfranchisement laws making them unable to vote. Only two states, Maine and Vermont allow convicted felons to vote during their incarceration. The number of disenfranchised citizens in the United States have been increasing substantially in recent ... was passed which enabled all women at the age of twenty-one to vote. In 1971, Congress lowered the voting age to eighteen years old. In 1974 the United States Congress confirmed that the case of Richardson v. Ramirez does not violate the Equal Protection Clause in the fourteenth ...

• Word Count: 1439
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography

... a great plan, but how does it affect the citizens of America? And isn't sort of scary that the politicians do not seem to care that the citizens of the country are so scared? In chapter 3 of his book Rich Media, Poor Democracy, McChesney discusses the affects of commercialism. He ... discusses the topic of the lack of competition between companies and how the markets claim not to be monopolistic, but oligopolistic. This idea of ... "small companies". Because these conglomerate corporations own so much, they have a huge say in what goes on in the world of advertising and consumerism. And ...

• Word Count: 1700
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... at the age of fourteen. His long military career began in 1781, and he quickly became a war hero and champion for the common man. "Old Hickory" as he was known, was a seasoned veteran, and had a reputation as a rough and uncivil individual. Most importantly, however, he was a southern democrat, which ... meant he distrusted banks. Nicolas Biddle, on the other hand, was the polar opposite of Jackson. Biddle was born in 1786 to an old ... Philadelphia family. He entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1796 at the age of ten, later enrolled at Princeton, and was valedictorian of his grad...

• Word Count: 1472
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... selfish purposes." (Doc B). He believed that commoners brought about less corruption rather than the elite in the federal government. Jackson and his supporters also promoted political democracy because they supported universal white manhood suffrage rather than the old property qualifications. In 1791, they began an idea referred to as the "New Democracy". Their belief prospered when Vermont ... that they would prevent any mail from entering the state, if continued, material regarding abolition (Doc F). In 1835, in Jackson's message to Congress, he attacked the abolitionist and their p...

• Word Count: 2087
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to help lead a successful campaign that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, Aided in the Equal Rights Amendment and gave women the right to vote in the United States. Alice Paul was born on January 11, 1885, in Moorestown, New Jersey. Alice Paul's ... sometimes go with her mother when she was a young girl to attend suffrage meetings. This is where Alice primarily learned about the suffrage movement and formed her strong commitment to social justice. Alice attended Moorestown Friends School, where she then graduated at the top of her entir...

• Word Count: 1437
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... cover the failures of the old Articles. The Articles of Confederation was an overall failure because it didn't establish an effective central government, and created many problems in both the central government and the state governments with topics such as the economy, representation in Congress and foreign situations. A weakness ... letter from the Rhode Island Assembly to Congress, "Because it would be unequal in its operation, bearing hardest on the most commercial states, and so would press peculiarly hard upon this State, which draws its chief support from commerce. By granting to ...

• Word Count: 1623
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Another objection of the Antifederalists was election by the general population. They believed that the people were not qualified to select representatives, and they wanted the state legislature to select them instead. Other Antifederalists, however, did think that the people should be able to ... men from the people to rule on His behalf. In Deuteronomy 1:15, God says He "took out of their tribes men wise and honorable, and appointed them rulers." God did not give power to a single person, but instead spread the power to a group of people. Because ... The Antifederalists purposely fough...

• Word Count: 1653
• Approx Pages: 7

... fourth amendment have come under attack in light of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Attorney General John Ashcroft has played a pivotal role in ushering in a new era of heightened security and lessened civil liberties. Under Ashcroft's direction Congress has passed several pieces of legislation, namely the USA Patriot Act, which amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This new kind of legislation ... the FBI has requested their personal records. It is illegal under the Act for librarians to inform patrons of FBI requests. Law enforcement official could abuse their power o...

• Word Count: 1358
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution to invalidate a state law. The courts found West Virginia's law to be discriminatory, and the law was invalidated. This decision established the rights of African Americans to be seated as jurors.  Race discrimination was not the only issue in ... statue did not exclude women from jury service, it spared them the obligation in recognition of the place as being the woman of the house and taking care of family. This exemption of women not having to serve on jury was considered a privilege rather than denial of women's...

• Word Count: 1906
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... . The Frame of 1682 constituted a bicameral parliament, inspired to a certain extent by the British model, consisting of two houses: an upper house and a lower house. The upper house consisted of seventy-two members, the first purchasers of 5,000 acres or more in the colony. The lower ... territories. As a recognition for their right to settle the land, he made sure, before establishing Pennsylvania, to write a letter of peace and friendship: "William Penn to the Kings of the Indians in Pennsylvania." Afterwards, he proved his sincerity by trying to integrate them in ... a sort of oral ...

• Word Count: 1692
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Aurora, Colorado, during a showing of the movie, The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman shot into the crowd with multiple guns, murdering 12 people and injuring 58 in which 7 of them were in critical condition. The gunman, James Holmes was arrested minutes later. Legal experts said it would be ... in District of Columbia v. Heller held that the second amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm, unconnected to service in a militia, and protects the right to use that firearm for traditional lawful purposes such as self-defense in a home.2 There is another Supreme Court precede...

• Word Count: 1528
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School