Students, Administrators, Snow, First amendment!

Students, Administrators, Snow, First amendment! Can you use them all together in a sentence. The media can. Check out this story from Virginia and a student's use of Facebook and Youtube.

Really...three inches of snow and you want school cancelled? Not in Minnesota!

Student's Snow Plea Triggers Online Storm

PS This article is just for fun not credit.
Mr. Thompson

Final 10 strands

Henry David Thoreau
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Transcendentalism
Objectivism
Walden
Epistle
St. Thomas Aquinas
Mahatama Ghandi
Satyagraha
Alfred Nobel

TurnItIn

1. Go to www.turnitin.com
2. Create a user profile as a student – can be make-believe

CLASS ID: 2150243
CLASS PASS: honesty

3. end wizard and login with the newly created profile. You can either upload a file or cut and paste it in.

Modern Protests

Find examples of modern protests done in an effort to effect change.

Here's one to start that cracks me up: Trust Fund Kids for Norm

Your turn:)

APLG'ers, what do you think?

Here is a very interesting case that may be hard to look at objectively due to the topic but yet that is what judges must do in deciding thes cases brought before them. Should a person be forced to turn over their password for their computer files to the gov't to complete an investigation or would that violate their 5th amendment rights to freedom from self-incrimination.

Feel free to provide a short comment for extra credit about this case (I don't want to know your opinion about the topic this man is being investigated for...that's not the issue.)

A Digital Dilemma

I also welcome any comments on the Judicial Branch now that you have had 40 cases presented to you: final thoughts on the Court, questions about the Court, feelings about any of the cases presented to you, topics reviewed by the Court etc.

Mr. Thompson

HDT/MLK

We're heading toward a comparative analysis/evaluation focused on either the content or language. We'll use TurnItIn to verify authorship. Start scribbling in the margins. Ultimately, I'll be asking you about the viability of non-violent civil disobedience, as proposed by HDT, MLK, and Gandhi in 2008.

If you need a conversation topic this weekend, ask your parents if they have any experiences with protests, their knowledge of Gandhi, or their view of the most efficacious way to effect change. Share anything of interest.

p.s.
If you happen to know eight juniors on the fence about APLG next year, and you believe the course was of significant academic value, we ask that you encourage them to rethink registration, as the 19 year history of this course, offered only at JM as a team-taught option, is near a close.

p.p.s.
Extra-Credit?

p.p.p.s
If you happen to have found the author of the quote "justice too long delayed is justice denied" respond below. I think you'll find the role of this author in the history of the civil rights movement particularly appropriate.

p.p.p.p.s
unless your name is Mark Irish.

Supreme Court at Work

The high court is just back in session for 2008 and below are links to 2 of the cases they are reviewing.

Justices May Iron Out Compromise on Voter ID Indiana Democratic Party v. Rokita
Justices Struggle With Lethal Injection Baze v. Rees

Your comments are welcome on the ramifications of the court's decision. PLEASE DON'T RESPOND ON WHETHER YOU THINK CAPITAL PUNISHMENT OR PICTURE ID'S ARE CONSTITUTIONAL.

Mr. Thompson

Our last (sniff) unit together

Here are some links to some helpful sites to get you through these last two weeks.

A great interactive map to help you understand the location and organization of the US District Courts, US Appeals Courts, US Supreme court, and all other federal courts-http://www.uscourts.gov/courtlinks/

A direct link to the US Supreme Court-http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

A link to Landmark Supreme Court cases that you can choose to use if you like to help you complete your landmark court case assignment-http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topic.htm

Finally a must read for everyone!!! The Power of the Federal Courts. Pay particular attention to the last section regarding Judicial Activism vs Judicial Restraint. You will need to know the difference between these 2 rather complex philosophies.
At the bottom of the above website is a short 10 question quiz. Take it. If you get them all right you are ready for your final on teh Judicial Branch.


Enjoy the Judicial Branch! Mr. Thompson

New Hampshire Primary

As today is the first primary of the season here are 8 questions New Hampshire might answer.

I promise not to do this after every state!
Mr. Thompson

Welcome to Jan 3rd and the Iowa Caucus

And so it begins; the first leg on the journey to the White House as we start the official caucus and primary season. How important is Iowa? Only time will tell but here are some interesting questions and the answers that Iowa could bring. (Once again I have to apologize to all you 3rd party supporters out there.)

8 Questions Iowa Could Answer

Welcome to 2008 APLGers
Mr. Thompson