Blog #3: SCOTUS History

 

The overview about the Supreme Court created by the History Channel entitled "Supreme Court" informs readers about the early days of the Supreme Court, Current and Notable Supreme Court Justices and Supreme Court Cases. 

The Supreme Court of the United States (or SCOTUS), which was established in 1789 by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution, serves as the highest federal court in the country and the head of the judicial branch of government. It has the ultimate jurisdiction over all laws within the nation and is responsible for evaluating the constitutionality of those laws. I think this introduction alone is the most-important take away point of the piece. The Judiciary Act of 1789, signed into law by President George Washington, specified that the Supreme Court would be comprised of six justices who would serve on the court until their death or retirement. One of the most surprising things I learned in this article was that the first six justices made their first decision on August 3, 1791, with West V. Barnes. This was an unremarkable case regarding a financial dispute between a farmer and a family he was in-debt to. 

The six judges of the Supreme Court are nominated by the President of the U.S. and then either confirmed or denied by the U.S. Senate. The chief justice is the highest judicial officer in the nation. He or She is responsible for presiding over the Supreme Court and deciding the agenda for the justices' weekly meetings. The justice yields the authority to assign who will write the court's opinion in cases where he or she is a member of the majority opinion. He or She also presides over impeachment trials against the President of the United States. The first Supreme Court Chief Justice was John Jay. 

Another surprising fact I learned in this piece is that Congress has altered the number of justices comprising the court six times over the years. Congress set the number of seats to nine in 1869, where it has remained until today. 

 

Chief Justice John Marshall is notable for defining the relationship between the judiciary and the other branches of government. In the famous Marbury v. Madison (1803) case, he established the authority of the Supreme Court to review and rule on the constitutionality of federal laws approved by Congress. Marshall, having served for over thirty-four years as the fourth chief justice, holds the record for the longest term of anyone holding the position. 

Chief Justice Charles Evan Hughes oversaw the transformation of the court from being the protector of property rights to the protector of civil liberties during the 1930s. He notably wrote historical opinions on the freedoms of speech and press.  

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Chief Justice Earle Warren delivered several historical verdicts, such as eliminating school segregation (Brown v. Board of Education), establishing the Miranda rights or the "right to remain silent" warning given by police (Miranda v. Arizona), and eliminated bans on interracial marriage (Loving v. Virginia). 

Other notable justices include: William Howard Taft, the only person to hold both roles as President and Chief Justice; Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Justice; Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice; and Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic Justice. This piece was the first time I have heard Sonia Sotomayor's name. 

In Dred Scott v. Sandford, the court denied citizenship to African American slaves in 1857. 

State segregation laws were upheld in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. 

World War II internment camps for Japanese Americans were permitted in Korematsu v. United States in 1944. 

In Mapp v. Ohio, the court held that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in criminal cases. 

The court found in Texas v. Johnson that flag burning and other potentially offensive speech is protected by the First Amendment. 

The court decided in Roe v. Wade, which was overturned in June 2022, that women have a right to an abortion during the first two trimesters. 

The President cannot use their power to withhold evidence in criminal trials was decided in U.S. v. Nixon.

The court struck down state anti-sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas (2003).

The court revoked the U.S. government's ability to deny federal benefits to same sex couples in United States v. Windsor (2013). 

Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) was the case where the court legalized same-sex marriage across all 50 states. 

Blog #2: How revenge porn turns lives upside down

 In her Ted Talk How revenge porn turns upside down Darieth Chisolm describes her experience with revenge porn, how she's working to help victims and outlines the current legal measures aimed at punishing those who commit these crimes. 

Before she was set to deliver a talk, Chisolm received a call from her ex-husband. He alerted her that a man called him and instructed him to go to his website that was full of naked photos of her. Chisolm's ex-boyfriend had taken several explicit photos of her while she was asleep and posted them online under a website with her name without her consent. While the media calls an act like this "revenge porn," Chislom now refers to this as "digital domestic violence.""Digital domestic violence," as she describes it, typically stems from a relationship in which an ex-lover cannot physically put their hands on a victim so they resort to posting photos, videos, explicit information and content online without consent. 

Chisolm details that one in twenty-five women say they have been impacted by revenge porn. For women under the age in thirty, that number decreases to one in ten. As much as those statistics are alarming, what's worse is the lack of legislation and laws to adequately protect victims and punish the perpetrators.  There is only one federal bill pending regarding revenge porn. The ENOUGH Act by V.P. Kamala Harris would criminalize revenge porn, however that could take years to pass. Presently, the only punishment is civil misdemeanors. It's expensive, complicated, and confusing for women to get protection from cyberstalking and cyber abuse. Legal loopholes and jurisdictional issues dragged out Chisolm's case all while her private photos were on display. She eventually found a private company that issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice that shut the website down. Chisolm's boyfriend was living in another country and there were no policies in place to protect victims regardless of boarders. She shared her cell phone and laptop with the Department of Homeland Security and the Jamaican Embassy three times for thorough forensic investigation. Jamaican authorities actually arrested the perpetrator and he is now facing charges under their Malicious Communications Act, and if found guilty, could face thousands of dollars in fines and up to ten years in prison. Chisolm learned her case is making history as the first international case under this new crime. 

Although Chisolm received justice, it was not an easy feat. She argues our cyber civil rights are at stake. We must demand the accountability and responsiveness from online companies as well as restore dignity to victims. She is working to film an upcoming documentary entitles "50 Shades of Silence" to give voice and dignity to victims. 

The issues discussed in this TED talk affect me because this story could truly happen to any of us. The statistics shared by Chisolm made me wonder if any of my friends are suffering through similar situations in silence. 

In the United States, the government must do something about these issues. Nobody deserves to be humiliated all while jumping through legal hoops. The government needs to demand accountability and punish those who share content without consent, even without the intent to do harm. 

In this instance, how much can we do to protect ourselves from invasions of our privacy? We should not shame those who send content that is maliciously leaked, rather shame on those for shaming them.

Top 5 Sources of News and Information

Staying informed and keeping up with current events is of utmost importance in today's world. The evolution of social media platforms in recent years has significantly impacted the way news is consumed. While newspapers and news channels were the primary sources for news in the past, social media has become an invaluable platform for users to access a plethora of options to stay informed. As an individual who has grown up with social media, I have always had accessible sources of news at my fingertips. However with the high amount of information available, it is imperative to identify reliable sources to receive news from. 

Tik Tok has grown in global popularity as a social media app where individuals can watch user-submitted short-form videos. Tik Tok has become the main way I stay up-to-date with current events, however it is definitely not the most reliable source because its algorithm promotes content based on popularity and engagement, not accuracy. 

Snapchat's Explore page presents news in a visually engaging format. It is easy for Snapchat users to access content created by a variety of publishers and media outlets including CNN, NBC News and The Washington Post. The stories highlighted on the Explore page are personalized based on user's viewing history and interests. Individuals are able to consume news content that is fact-checked, reliable, entertaining and engaging. 

Instagram allows users to share news that means something to them using the story feature. I often see my friends post statistics and graphics relating to political movements and news which is relevant to their beliefs. Even though Instagram's explore page has an algorithm that individualizes the content released to each user, it is still an excellent source to find news about current events that may not be presented in traditional news media. 

The Pew Research Center has reported seven-in-ten U.S. adult Twitter news consumers have followed breaking news there. Twitter connects users with politicians, celebrities, and news outlets. As opposed to other social media which is used primarily to connect with friends, people on twitter are avid news consumers and regularly tweet about politics and current events. 

The Skimm is a daily email newsletter which was introduced to me by my junior year history teacher. The newsletter provides subscribers with a short, simple and easy-to-read version of the news. Although the stories are primarily accurate, I have found this source to provide a lot of biased and sponsored content.