May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor.....

On March 22 I had the opportunity to view the first movie in The Hunger Games Trilogy.  The movie made quite the grand entrance making close to $155 million dollars opening weekend.  I have read all three books and loved them.  Now how does this related to Constitutional Law, I may be stretching the relation but it makes sense in my head.  In the Trilogy you journey with a character who volunteers in place of her young sister to compete in the 74th Annual Hunger Games.  In the Hunger Games the players compete to the death, it is survival of the fittest. 2 people are chosen from different districts.  Each district is like a social class if you will.  Coal, Agriculture, Livestock, Textiles, Lumber, etc., are the many livelihoods of each district that are controlled by the Capital.   To maintain control and balance the Capital keeps the districts in extreme poverty and hosts the Hunger Games to maintain said control.  Throughout the Trilogy the characters realize the control the Capital has and uprisings occur to establish a world where no Hunger Games exist and equality is present.

In modern day America we have the Constitution, specifically Article 1 outlines the duties and limitations of the branches of government as well as the state and federal governments.  Without these provisions could a scenario like the Hunger Games be possible?  As inhuman it is I guess it could be possible, a totalitarian society  The more and more I think about the protection the Constitution provides to form a more perfect union, the more I am a strong believer in the words it contains.  It has more purpose than any of us could ever analyze.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/27/opinion/seymour-hunger-games-john-carter/index.html

The Wrong Guy

Alan Northrop was arrested and found guilty of a crime he did not commit.  In 1993 Northrop was convicted of raping a young girl in which he never once committed to doing.  He stood his innocence and from behind bars fought for advanced DNA testing.  In 2010 a state law was passed and Northrop's DNA was tested against the rape kit of the victim and the results came back and his DNA did not match the DNA found on the victim.  Upon release Northrop was given $2500 in which he earned working his prison job of 42 cents and hour.  He was given no compensation for his wrongful imprisonment.

In recent proposals called the Innocence Project, which I agree with, would provided individuals compensation for the time they spent in prison for crimes they did not commit.  Federal Law compensate Federal offenses but State Law compensation varies.  The project would set higher standards of compensation the mirror the Federal Laws.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/25/justice/wrongful-conviction-payments/index.html?hpt=us_mid

Do you agree?

Trayvon Martin

In the awake of the tragedy coming from the untimely death of Trayvon Martin a young black man has been the center of much controversy. I have read several articles of personal stories of many black men of being racially profiled and the reality they have to live with.  I know personally of this issue being in a family of adopted individuals that are black men.  As adoptive parents, you are taught to counsel your child in situations involving police enforcement to be 110% cooperative.  In simple traffic violations they are taught to immediately place their hands on the steering wheel from the beginning and ask for permission to move when needed.   Personally I feel this is a violation of their right of equal protection under the law.  There shouldn't be any criteria to qualify you as an individual to receive protection under the law, especially because of the color of ones skin.

Do you agree?

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/27/opinion-what-the-death-of-trayvon-martin-says-about-being-a-black-man-in-2012/?hpt=us_bn1

IN TIME

I recently watched a movie that sparked a lot of questions into my head.  The movie is called "In Time" in which it follows the life of a young man who lives in the futuristic America that is mandated and ruled by time.  In the movie instead of money being the root of all evil and the subject in which people work for they substitute it with time.  When you went to work or received loans you were given time that was recorded on their arms.  The rich had decades of time and the poor had only hours, when you ran out you were dead.  Throughout the movie, you follow the concept on the government controlling the amount of times certain Time Zones had to distribute to keep the country in "balance."  


As I watched this I first was grateful for the system we have now that even if I didn't have money I can somehow still survive but as I got thinking I began to question the intent of the movie.  Is this movie trying to make the point the government has too much control even though we aren't bending over backwards for time but other things?  As much corruption as some may argue I am assured that the Constitution in which it lays out rights for its citizens, and the rights and powers and limitations of each branch of the government has a purpose.  I am a little more comforted.

What is your opinion?

OBAMACARE......

In this article I read regarding the current legal debate over the proposed "Obamacare" it reports the progression being made in which it quoted many of the supreme court justices feelings towards the healthcare plan.  


One quote that struck me was made by Michele Bachmann in which she said, "If federal government can tell you, when you are not doing anything, that you must do something, then the federal government can tell you anything." As soon as I read this a million questions on what rights of mine are being violated in the proposed healthcare and if it is passed, what rights will be taken next.


I personally feel that the one of the most important rights I have is my first amendment right.  If I am forced into a healthcare that I don't want, why aren't my rights protecting me?


http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/27/justice/scotus-health-care/index.html?npt=NP1

Pre-Abortion Sonogram

On Tuesday February 1, 2012, Texas health officials began enforcing a new law that requires them to provide a pregnant woman who is seeking an abortion, with a sonogram of her embryo or fetus along with a full description of its development, before executing said abortion.
I have always been on the fence when it came to abortion.  I am Pro-life with a few exceptions to Pro-choice where intercourse was not consensual which resulted in conception.  BUT in other situations, I strongly believe that a person should take responsibility for their actions.  If you are responsible enough to have sex, you are responsible to live with the consequences of becoming pregnant. In these situations, abortion is just an easy way out. That is my opinion.
Regarding the law in Texas, I wonder if this law will be contested in the near future.  Though I agree with it 100% and a woman should know the nature in every aspect that she is pursuing, I am open minded enough to see that this could very possibly upset a lot of people.  Duress being the key here.
What do you think?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/07/us/texas-abortion-sonogram/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Too Rich....

I have read a series of articles and watched several news reports on the recent release of Mitt Romney's, a GOP candidate, tax information.  Mitt Romney and his wife made an estimated $45 million in 2011 and will be paying $6 million in taxes at a 15.4 percent rate. Most are in an uproar of the insane amount of income the Romney's earn in a year and believe they should be held to a higher tax rate.  What I am confused about is why people are attacking Romney and not those that set those rates?

I think people need to do their research first before they shoot the wrong bird.

The top rate of 35% is tax to the ordinary income that the average middle class citizen pays in taxes.  The rate of 15% that we see the Romney's paying is because it is the rate they are held to for long-term capital gains and dividends.  The Romney's are just following the set rates set by our government. Though I think there is a huge discrepancy in these rates, I don't think it is the Romney's fault in the least but Congress who set the rates.  People are blaming the wrong person.  As we discussed in class, the Constitution lays out the duties of our Government.  Congress make the tax laws and are the ones to blame for the discrepancy.

Now for a tangent, the article attached below compares two of the front runners of the GOP race based on the taxable rates and the amount of incomes each make.  Ragging on Romney because he is one of the wealthiest Americans to run for Presidency.

I don't know about most American's thinking but I personally would feel more comfortable in this troubled economy to be lead by a man who knows how to and can make insane amounts of money for himself.  Just think of the turn around to our economy he could perform.  Look at the facts they are right there!

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/26/politics/north-florida-conservatives/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/mitt-romney-tax-returns-released_n_1225247.html