In Baltimore, We’re All Freddie Gray

The story of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old black man who was viciously attacked by police officers on April 12 more or less because he looked at them, seems to plague the city of Baltimore, Maryland. To us, the Baltimore Police Department is a group of terrorists, funded by our tax dollars, who beat on people in our community daily, almost never having to explain or pay for their actions. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in conjunction with Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, spent over a week investigating what appears to be an open-and-shut case. The police officers in Baltimore, as in many places in the country with dense black populations, are out of control, have been out of control. Many other Baltimoreans feel the same way, which is why a diverse collection of protesters has taken to the streets every day since Freddie Grays death on April 19. From there, a group of protesters, including myself, marched to Camden Yards, where the Orioles were playing the Boston Red Sox. The young up risers of Baltimore have been paying attention to the peaceful protests in Sanford, Fla., Ferguson, Mo., and New York, only to be let down by the end result, over and over again. 

When will Americans learn? I feel like I say the same thing every time chaos breaks out between cops and civilians. America will not progress until we stop pointing fingers at each other and decide to work together! by putting the blame on each other and not taking full responsibility, society will deteriorate. 

"In Baltimore, We’re All Freddie Gray." The New York Times. The New York Times, 28 Apr. 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/29/opinion/in-baltimore-were-all-freddie-gray.html?_r=0>.

Hurst v. Florida with respect to Ring v. Arizona

In Hurst v. Florida the main question was whether Florida's death sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment or the Eighth Amendment in light of this Court's decision in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U. S. 584 (2002). On appeal, Hurst was granted a new sentencing trial because the Supreme Court of Florida found that his counsel should have investigated and presented evidence of Hursts borderline intelligence and possible organic brain damage. At his new sentencing trial, Hurst was prevented from presenting mental retardation evidence as an absolute bar to the imposition of the death penalty, though he was allowed to present it as mitigating evidence. In 2002, the Supreme Court decided the case Ring v. Arizona, in which the Court held that the Sixth Amendment required that the presence of aggravating factors, which Arizona's death penalty sentencing scheme viewed as essentially elements of a larger offense, be determined by the jury. The Supreme Court of Florida had previously held that the decision in Ring v. Arizona did not apply to Florida's death penalty sentencing scheme generally and specifically did not require that a jury's recommendation of the death penalty be unanimous or that a jury determine the factual issue of a defendants potential mental retardation.

The nomination of Loretta Lynch, the black federal prosecutor from the Brooklyn district, has elicited comments about her delayed confirmation vote in the Senate. These two members of Congress are saying some Senate Republicans, five decades after a bipartisan vote passed the Civil Rights Act, are opposed to Loretta Lynch because she is black. A fair parsing of these comments by the president and attorney general also suggests the possibility of racism among Senate Republicans.
Appearing on The Daily Show a few weeks ago, the hip-hop singer and actor Common discussed race relations with Jon Stewart. As the Obama presidency ends, the status quo on race is in a bad place. In some conservative circles, a school of reduction holds that the black vote is gone and the Hispanic vote is a waste of time.

 Racism exists when one ethnic group or historical collectivity dominates, excludes, or seeks to eliminate another on the basis of differences that it believes are hereditary and unalterable. Racism is still a prevalent problem and admits our ancestors' misdeeds. This would involve acknowledging not only racism toward minority groups but also the inherent privileges afforded to white people just for being in the majority group. I am fearful for when Obama leaves office; I  can only hope that America will see African Americans is a better light.

No Child Left Behind Law Faces Its Own Reckoning

President Obama talks to students at Viers Mill Elementary School in Silver Spring, Md. In 2005, the school was selected as a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School.No Child Left Behind Whittled Down Under Obama JULY 6, 2012 As almost all schools began to fall into the failing category and a partisan logjam kept Congress from reauthorizing the law when it expired eight years ago the Obama administration began granting states waivers from its requirements.Over the past three years, schools in all but a few states have been given waivers, allowing them to show success through measures other than test scores and eliminating the 2014 deadline for universal proficiency. The worry is that if you leave it to the states, they will drop the ball, as they did in the past, said Martin West, who studies the politics of kindergarten through high school education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Before No Child Left Behind, 17 states had no accountability systems for their schools, and only two states looked specifically at how well their low-income or minority students were doing. And even after the law went into effect, some states wrote easier exams or lowered their passing scores to inflate the number of students deemed proficient. The Philadelphia School District which has cut 5,000 jobs and closed 31 schools in two years and faces an $80 million deficit for the next fiscal year stood to lose $78 million in federal money under the House bill, according to administration figures.
The achievement gap has been an issue that this country has dealt with since segregation times. Having equality for all students is imperative, yet this has not occurred. With programs like No Child Left Behind  parents, teachers, and students all expect to see a change. But will this change ever come? Even worse, what holds for the future? For the sake of our country the blame needs to be placed evenly so we can find a solution.

Rich, Motoko, and Tamar Lewin. "No Child Left Behind Law Faces Its Own Reckoning." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Mar. 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/us/politics/schools-wait-to-see-what-becomes-of-no-child-left-behind-law.html?ref=politics&_r=0>.

Unsettled at Home, Veterans Volunteer to Fight ISIS

Last fall, Patrick Maxwell, a 29-year-old Iraq war veteran now selling real estate in this bustling city, saw something in news footage of Islamic fighters in Iraq that he never saw as an infantry Marine there: the enemy. Mr. Maxwell is one of a small number of Americans many of them former members of the military who have volunteered in recent months to take up arms against the militants in Iraq and Syria, even as the United States government has hesitated to put combat troops on the ground. More than anything, they don't like ISIS and want to help, said Matthew Van Dyke, an American filmmaker who has spent time this winter with four American veterans covertly training a militia of Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq to resist the Islamic State. While the United States authorities have tracked and prosecuted citizens who try to join the Islamic State, it is unclear how they will respond to Americans fighting the group, especially since some Kurdish militias in Syria have ties to groups the State Department classifies as terrorist organizations. Behind the scenes, American officials have pressured the pesh merga to keep Americans out of the fight, according to American military veterans who have been in Iraq.

Oh great just what our country needs is another war! It is frightening to know that another potential threat could arise and that America can get involved in turmoil. With this in mind, the United States military needs to implement a plan to stop ISIS without sending our soldiers back there. After all, former President George W. Bush was widely criticized for his decision to go to war with Iraq even by the majority of Republicans in the United States and that's one reason why he left office with a 21% approval rating. The United States has performed air strikes on Iraq in an attempt to suppress the violence.  

Ferguson Police Routinely Violate Rights of Blacks, Justice Dept. Finds

The racial disparity in the statistics present at Ferguson were so stark that the Justice Department has concluded in a report scheduled for release on Wednesday that there was only one explanation: The Ferguson Police Department was routinely violating the constitutional rights of its black residents. The report, based on a six-month investigation, provides a glimpse into the roots of the racial tensions that boiled over in Ferguson last summer after a black teenager, Michael Brown, was fatally shot by a white police officer, making it a worldwide flash point in the debate over race and policing in America. Holder Jr., the Justice Department has opened more than 20 such investigations into local police departments and issued tough findings against cities including Newark; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Cleveland.But the Ferguson case has the highest profile of Mr. The Justice Department is expected to issue a separate report Wednesday clearing the police officer, Darren Wilson, of civil rights violations in the shooting.It is not clear what changes Ferguson could make that would head off a lawsuit.

Again America has yet to change it's biased against minorities. I don't think we will ever get rid of black and white. It's alarming to know that our justice system is injustice; the sole purpose for a justice system and a government is to protect the rights of the people. Clearly, everyone has their own personal agenda in mind. When people act on their own selfish beings, trouble and chaos occurs for example Ferguson!

Apuzzo, Matt. "Ferguson Police Routinely Violate Rights of Blacks, Justice Dept. Finds." Nytimes.com. © 2015 The New York Times Company, 3 Mar. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/us/justice-department-finds-pattern-of-police-bias-and-excessive-force-in-ferguson.html?ref=politics&_r=0>.

In Bid to Allow Guns on Campus, Weapons Are Linked to Fighting Sexual Assault

As gun rights advocates push to legalize firearms on college campuses, an argument is taking shape: Arming female students will help reduce sexual assaults. It reflects a misunderstanding of sexual assaults in general, said John D. Foubert, an Oklahoma State University professor and national president of One in Four, which provides educational programs on sexual assault to college campuses. The gun lobby has seized on this tactic, this subject of sexual assault, said Andy Pelosi, the executive director of the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus. She added that people who understood the extent of sexual assaults on college campuses, perhaps female Democrats who had been sexually assaulted themselves, need to call their legislators and say, Represent us today or lose your election tomorrow. Florida State University has had high-profile episodes involving sexual assault the star football player Jameis Winston was accused of raping a fellow student in 2012 but did not face criminal charges as well as a campus shooting in November in which a 31-year-old gunman opened fire at a school library, wounding two students and an employee before being fatally shot by the police.
I am absolutely against guns. Yes guns don't kill people, it's people with guns. Uh duh. That's why college kids on campuses should not have guns! I can see the need for wanting to feel safe on campus, especially for sexual assault victims. However there are other methods for this; if alternative methods don't work than they need to be altered. Everyone has the right to protection, but what if that right is for the wrong reason? 

Schwarz, Alan. "In Bid to Allow Guns on Campus, Weapons Are Linked to Fighting Sexual Assault." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2015. Web. 18 Feb. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/us/in-bid-to-allow-guns-on-campus-weapons-are-linked-to-fighting-sexual-assault.html?ref=politics&_r=0>.

In Move Toward Campaign, Christie Creates PAC and Hires Staff

January 26th, 2015 - PACS

To start his 2016 campaign, Chris Christie looks forward to start his own PAC. This PAC will include eight skilled and experienced campaign managers. This new PAC is to be named, “Leadership Matters For America", which will allow him to raise a ridiculous amount of money for the Republican campaign in the 2016 election. The PAC’s finance chairman will be Ray Washburne, former chairman of the Republican National Committee; its senior advisers will be Phil Cox, former executive director of the Republican Governors Association, and Mike DuHaime. This PAC will also employ several other campaign, promotional, and finance managers from different states.

Chris Christie made a bold move to create a PAC. Not only will this help his campaign  but it will promote other Republican candidates. As  a whole I thought this was interesting. Now that I understand what PACs are and how they function helps me to understand how campaigns work. By creating a PAC Chris Christie and his Republican allies have the potential to raise a plethora of campaign money.





Barbaro, Michael. "In Move Toward Campaign, Christie Creates PAC and Hires Staff." The New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/us/politics/in-a-move-toward-a-campaign-chris-christie-plans-to-create-a-pac.html?ref=politics>.

Holder Urges Better Data for Shootings Involving Police

January 15th, 2015
Attorney General Eric Holder expressed his opinion on law enforcement shooting on early this week. In Holder's point of view the federal government needs to do a better job in tracking the number of times law enforcement officers across the country are shot at or fire their weapons. In order for this to happen a law must be be passed by congress. The main issue that our justice system faces right now is organization in data. If law enforcement kept a record of injuries and deaths at the hands of law enforcement, then this information can go on record. However, no one has really made an effort to fix this issue. Without recorded information protesters and activists believe that "a larger pattern of abusive tactics used by police departments there and elsewhere in the country. But without reliable numbers, it was difficult to quantify the problem." With this mindset of "all police officials are corrupt" or "our justice system is unjust" America will not progress, but regress.

I agree. I think there needs to be "order in the court". Our justice system is put in place to protect the rights of everyone no matter what race, gender, or ethnicity they are. With recent shootings like Ferguson, people want answers and evidence needs to be clear. If the justice system was more organized and kept a record of every single conflict a solution would be found. Perhaps by recording this misinformation law enforcement will learn from it's mistakes and  strive to make America a safe place for everyone. Right now what we have isn't working.

Schmidt, Michael. "Holder Urges Better Data for Shootings Involving Police." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Jan. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/us/politics/holder-urges-better-data-for-shootings-involving-police.html?ref=politics&_r=0>.