Which Value of Free Expression is The Most Important?

The rights of an American are unparalleled to the rights of citizens within most other countries in the world. Although, one thing that stands out and allows our nation to be as free as it is, is the First Amendment. This important aspect of American society allows citizens to criticize the government, practice any religion they deem fit, etc without prior restraint. Something else that stands out are the Eight Values of Free Expression. They are all important in their own unique ways, but after talking to Sasha, we came to the unanimous decision that the first one is unequivocally the most important. It is called the "Discovery of Truth", which is modeled after John Milton's marketplace of ideas.

This idea says that when good and bad, or truth and lies, are all on the table from two different sides, the good and the truth will ultimately win out. This allows for all ideas to be stated, whether they be good or bad, and people are free to argue over them based upon where their morals lie. For example, this article from Digital Trends talks about the new AirPods that Apple will be releasing to the public soon. However, the writer believes that the upgrades and advancements that have been made are simply not good enough. He thinks that after a three year period, there should be more done to these headphones than offering more than one color and making them sweat proof. This is a perfect example of how the First Value of Free Expression is used. He is starting a debate on wether the AirPods should be further advanced, or if the advancements already made are substantial enough to make consumers feel good about buying this product. Readers of the article are welcome to voice their opinions in the comments section of the article which allows for some give and take for both parties. No straight answer will come out of this, but, due to these American citizens being able to express their ideas without prior restraint, everyone who is involved will have their voice heard.

Sasha and I also talked about the idea that without the first value you cannot have the other seven. In other words, the First Value of Free Expression is the base for which the other seven were created on and rely on. A perfect example comes from the second one, which is Participation in Self-Government. When it comes to election time, citizens want to be well educated about the candidates that are up for office. One of the best and easiest ways to get to know them is through debates, maybe two or three. It is here that the candidates can argue against each others view points and make it clear how they will make the office that they are running for better than it currently is. Then, the citizens are going to go vote, having being more educated on the topic. This is just one example, but the same argument can be made for the rest of the Values of Free Expression.

Is There Still A Separation Of Church And State?

It seems that with every passing day America is changing in one way, shape, or form. Although one constant remains and that is the freedom to practice whatever religion your heart, body, and soul desires. This has been the case ever since the documents laying down the foundation of our nation were written in an attempt to stay away from the tyrannical rule of Great Britain. There is something going on within the Supreme Court and the 14th Amendment in terms of religion, but with the justices on the bench now, it is not all that surprising.

Per The New Yorker, the establishing clause of the 14th Amendment is fading out and the free exercise clause is coming in. Now, this does not mean that it will be written out, rather it means that they free exercise clause is starting to be used by the justices in more and more cases in order to set a precedent. They are beginning to rule that Catholic Schools can receive government funding just like public schools even though they are run by their local diocese. If public schools are able to receive funding for textbooks, transportation, and teachers salaries, then the religious schools should be no different. Judge Kavanaugh stated that if the government discriminates against religious schools solely because of their title, then that violates the free exercise clause. So, does this infringe upon the separation of Church and State? It seems like it may due to the fact that some religious institutions are now receiving government funding, but they are not interfering with an individuals right to pick what religion to practice. The similar cases that are to follow will give us more information because, for now, it is too early to tell. 

Facebook Wants To Shift To Private Networks Which Is The Definition Of Irony

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, said in a blog post on Wednesday that Facebook will shift to a "privacy-focused communications platform...". The news came from an article that was posted by Samuel Axon which talked about the transformation from a public platform, which Facebook has now, to a private platform where not everything that you post will be out on the internet forever. I mean, come on now. The amount of privacy issues that Facebook has had in the past, one of which caused private information of thousands of Facebook profiles to be released, shows that they really did not care about the safety of the millions of people that have an account.

The key takeaway here is that the public platforms will still exist in which people can interact and network with one another, but the instant messaging feature that Facebook has will be on a private server. Why are they doing this now? Other companies such as GroupMe and WhatsApp are already on private servers, so they very well could just be looking at the direction in which communication is going and trying to get on board while making it seem that they are being innovative. The big question here is: will Facebook violate the privacy rights of millions by reading their messages on a "private" server? The answer will remain to be seen and the situation is definitely one worth monitoring.

Things To Know About The United States Supreme Court

The United States is one of the most coveted countries to live in throughout the entire world, but not many know what it takes to run it. Yes, the most powerful position you can have is President, but what happens at the Judicial level? The highest court in the land is the Supreme Court and it is the most powerful judicial body on planet earth. There are nine justices who are (usually) on the bench at the same time and, as a matter of fact, there have been just over 100 Supreme Court justice with each serving about 16 years.

Becoming a Supreme Court Justices is an incredible honor, but the road to even be nominated is an extremely long process. Although, if you are fortunate enough to become one, your work load will unimaginably grueling. One Supreme Court Justice who served said that you really start to do your work when you forget that you are there, which takes a few years. Due to the magnitude of the position that you hold and the building that you work in, it makes sense. Once you do begin to do your work, you won't stop. This is because that the Supreme Court receives more than 100 new cases each week. However, the one bright side to this is that they can pick and chose what cases they take. When it comes to these cases and the amount of time that lawyers are allowed to present their argument, they are only allowed 30 minutes. This is incredibly difficult, so in order to make a compelling argument, they need to have great opening and closing remarks.

The most consuming part of a Justices life is not being on the bench or partaking in meetings, but rather opinion writing in which they give their thoughts on current cases. One of the most remarkable things about the Supreme Court actually comes from the building itself. It is made of marble, which signifies the stability of the decisions that the court makes. So, the Supreme Court has come a long way from when it was the least credible part of our government.