Bush defends waterboarding

1. Do you agree with Bush that waterboarding is an accetpable punishment or do you agree with the Obama adminstration that it is considered "cruel and unusual"?
2. Do you think it was an effective punishment for the people behind 9/11?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37485383/ns/politics-white_house/#storyContinued

The Arizona Law

The Arizona law is a law recently passed in Arizona allowing police to search and ask for proof of immigration status based upon reasonable suspicion. My question is do you think it is constitutional?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/arizona-governor-meets-with-obama/?scp=2&sq=arizona%20law&st=cse

AP US Gov Current Events

Final blog assignment: Please find a current events article of interest to you (2010) that relates to one or more gov concepts that we have studied this semester. Once you have found an article from a reputable news source, publish a new post (click on pencil sign and then new post) that gives a brief introduction to and thoughtful prompt or question related to the issue, and then link the article for your colleagues to read and respond to. Then later in the week read another student's new post and linked article and provide a thoughtful comment to their prompt or question.

Do You Have to be a Judge to Serve on the Supreme Court?

President Obama has just announced Elena Kagan, as his pick for the United States Supreme Court to replace Justice John Paul Stevens who is resigning at the end of this term. Kagan is the current Solicitor General and former Dean of the Harvard Law School, and carries an impressive reputation as a legal scholar and jurist. However, the fact that she has not served as a federal court judge has caused many to question whether she is qualified for a job on the Nation's highest court.

In fact, Kagan's appointment encourages renewed national dialogue about what qualities are important to become one of the nation's elite judges in general. For example, does it matter that the Court, with Kagan, would be comprised of 8 Ivy League jurists educated at either Harvard or Yale, or that 4 of the 9 justices are from New York, or that 6 are Catholic and 3 are Jewish? Does diversity in Court composition matter?

After reading the article linked below please answer any one or more of the following question, making reference to the article in at least one comment posted:

1. Do you think prior experience as a judge should be a requirement of any potential nominee to the Supreme Court?
2. Is diversity in Supreme Court composition important, and if so, to what extent?
3. Do you think President Obama made a good choice in picking Elena Kagan for the next Supreme Court justice of the Untied States? Why or why not?
   
   http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/10/AR2010051001116.html?hpid=topnews&sub=AR&sid=ST2010050903614
   
   
   

Freedom of Religion or Discrimination?

Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the issue of whether a public university's anti-discrimination policy is in fact a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of religion. The Hastings College of Law has a nondiscrimination policy that requires official student groups to admit any Hastings student who wants to join the organization. However, the student-led Christian Legal Society on campus contends that by requiring it to allow gay students and nonbelievers into its leadership would force the group members to renounce their core beliefs and that "the policy violates the Constitution's guarantees of free speech, association with like-minded individuals and exercise of religion." The student group is suing the Law School because it wants access to various benefits and the student activity fees that go along with official sanction by the University. However, it does not want to adopt the University's nondiscrimination policy that applies to all other student groups.

After reading the article linked below, how do you think the Supreme Court should decide this case? And in your opinion, is this case more about civil liberties and freedom of religion and association, or, is this really a civil rights case about discrimination against gay students?

http://www.startribune.com/nation/91517219.html?page=3&c=y

Supreme Court Justices: the "empathy" Criterion

Six months after President Obama took office he had the opportunity to name a successor to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice David Souter. Among other typical requirements such as intelligence and experience, he also spoke of empathy as "an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes." President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor, a female Hispanic appellate court judge from the Second Circuit, who was eventually confirmed by the Senate. Her prior remarks precipitated healthy criticism from Republicans and legal scholars alike for her now famous "wise Latino woman" reference anad other remarks she made about her own view of judging.

Please read the article linked below and respond to any one or more of the following questions:

1) Given the fact that the Supreme Court has been charged with protecting minority interests from the self-serving majority in this country, is empathy a legitimate criterion for new Supreme Court nominees?
2) Is it realistic to presume that any judge can separate his or her personal background, experiences, and perspective from his or her decisionmaking on the bench?
3) Are you concerned that Justice Sotomayor will be biased in her decisionmaking on the Supreme Court, or do you think she was merely stating what we all know to be true: that the Supreme Court does engage in judicial activism from time to time, and as such, does make policy when it feels the need to do so?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Executive Power and Signing Statements

Many people believe that the unprecedented expansion of presidential power was the defining feature of the Bush presidency. Much of this expanded executive authority was accomplished through the use of signing statements--written comments issued by a president at the time of the signing of a bill. In the past, signing statements were nothing more than commentary by a president on the appropriateness or timeliness of certain legislation. Since the Bush Administration, however, signing statements have been used to effectively veto parts of legislation that the President believes to be unconstitutional, or with which he does not agree. President Obama seems to be continuing in the footsteps of his predecessor in his frequent use of signing statements (http://www.coherentbabble.com/listBHOall.htm ).

After reading the New York Times article linked below, do you think the presidential use of signing statements is justified given the president's role as Commander-in-Chief and his duty "to faithfully execute the law in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution" especially in this post-9/11 world? Or do you believe that the use of signing statements undermines the notion of separation of powers as conceived by our Founding Fathers? Please justify your answer with specific reference to the article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09signing.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Obama's%20Embrace%20of%20a%20Bush%20tactic%20riles%20Congress&st=cse

Do corporations have free speech first amendment rights?

A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling recently stripped away restraints on corporate political spending opening the door for a barrage of corporate-sponsored campaign advertising in upcoming elections. By a 5 - 4 vote, the Court overturned two of its own decisions as well as the decades-old law prohibiting companies from funding their own candidate ads. The Court held that the ads constitute free speech and, as such, are protected by the First Amendment.

After reading the article linked below, please answer one or more of the following questions:

Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to allow corporations to direct unlimited funds to ads that target specific candidates for election?

In a broader sense do you believe that a corporation should have first amendment rights? A corporation is defined as an institution made up of individuals. Would our founding fathers agree with the Supreme Court's position? (Check out the Washington Post report).

Do you think we should go to a system of public financing of presidential election campaigns to make elections more fair?

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/82443577.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU