Deadline

As much as I would like to believe that justice is blind, I don’t.  Our society has a picture in our heads of what a criminal looks like and for most people it is someone who is black. If the majority of people being arrested are black then suspects in future crimes that are black will be unfairly prosecuted. There is a bias no matter where or what the case is. In some locations it is better than others, but it is always present. If our country makes it look like black people are committing more crimes they will believe that black people will commit future crimes. It is unfortunate that our justice system works this way because there is no way to determine whether someone is discriminating or not, many innocent people could be put in jail or executed, and real criminals could be left on the streets.  I wish the justice system could be blind, but I don’t see how it could be.
I think our country is pro death penalty because we blow up our crimes to be huge new topics. Whenever there is a bad crime the entire country knows about it. When there is so much pressure to find the criminal and punish them for their actions, people will support the death penalty. If there wasn’t such a large spotlight on the justice system I don’t think as many people would be in favor of it. I think our society makes everything a little more dramatic than it actually is, so their responses are more dramatic then they should be.  I also think many people believe it will bring them closure for their loss. Unfortunately it wont. When that life is lost your loved one’s does not come back. Our society supports the death penalty because our society supports revenge.
To the families of the victims at the clemency case I would say, I am sorry for your loss, it must be extremely painful and sad, but taking the life of this person will not bring you any peace. It will not bring back your loved one. I truly believe that taking the life of another person will not help you grieve. At the end of the day nothing has been accomplished. That empty spot in your heart is still missing, and one more person has lost their life. I would encourage the victim’s families to watch the confessions of the other victims families who are opposed to the death penalty. Emit Till was brutally lynched, but his mom is opposed to the death penalty. Those who are opposed could explain to the victims in the clemency cases why death isn’t the answer.  I believe there is no room for revenge in the justice system.

Chapter 1: Eating Animals

This week I completed reading the first chapter of Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. The first chapter is the author letting us know who he is. He talks about his battle with vegetarianism. He spoke about his beliefs on food, family, and identity. He also explains to the reader why he wrote this book. The first chapter was so compelling because I learned so much about the author. I got a brief timeline of his life and he is very straightforward about his opinions. I was originally interested in this book because it reminds me of my sister. One day out of the blue she decided to be vegetarian. My family all believed it would last around two weeks, it has been three years. I respect vegetarianism but I don’t quite understand it. This book, in 19 pages, has already helped me understand more.  I look forward to the future chapters where he goes in depth about his experiences. I am interested to know how I feel about his decisions. Will I agree with them? Will I understand them? Will this book turn me into a vegetarian? Many of the topics that were brought up in the first chapter made me stop and think. One that I have continued thinking about is the idea of food as a source of memories. Foer says “Within my family’s Jewish tradition, I came to learn that food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it helps you remember.”(12) I am Jewish. I do not keep kosher but I do eat Jewish foods and know the meaning behind them. For example, apples in honey on Yom Kippur represent the sweetness of the New Year. I had never heard the concept of food being a way to remember and tell stories. What does that mean? Food makes me think about stories. Every time I eat mandarin oranges I think of how my grandma would always give me them and let me watch frosty the snowman in her basement.  The food didn’t tell the story, it reminded me of it. Is that what Foer means?  I am fascinated by this book and will continue to search for the connection between food and memories.

The Death Penalty

After the arrest of the accused there is a arraignment. This is the first time that the accused will hear their charges and be able to make a plea in front of a courtroom. This is the first place where the rights of the accused are protected. They are told exactly what they are being accused of and they are allowed to plead their case. Next there is a hearing to determine whether there is enough evidence to prosecute the accused. If enough strong evidence is found there will be a hearing of a grand jury, there they will determine whether the evidence is compelling enough to charge the suspect with a specific crime. The rights of the defendant are being protected because the evidence against them is being carefully analyzed for strength and validity. Finally the prosecutor must announce their intentions to seek the death penalty. This is the final aspect that protects the accused because they know what the prosecutor’s intentions are so they can make their case against it.
    I do not believe that the system we use to enforce the death penalty insures that only the guilty are convicted. I think there are a lot of grey areas where people could slip through. For example eyewitnesses may have false memories, feel pressure to describe a certain suspect, or lie. Also there are people who give the police information hoping to get something out of it. Their intentions might not be right and they could endanger an innocent person. Finally most of the case is based off of evidence found at the crime scene. That evidence can be tampered with or staged. Our steps to enforcing the death penalty are not the most accurate, but I don’t see how they could be more accurate. There isn’t really a way to decide if someone is lying or telling the truth. It is also hard to determine if the evidence is genuine or designed to look a certain way. I think that our system that enforces the death penalty is as good as its going to get. There will always be a large margin for error.
I do not feel that any way of murdering someone is humane, but I would say the most humane are hanging and lethal injection. Hanging has a series of probations that it takes to ensure a quick painless death. They measure the weight of the inmate and the length of the rope. There is always potential for error that could result in a long painful death, but they do their best to make it quick and painless. Lethal injection is also somewhat humane because there is also a small margin for error. The inmate is strapped down and put to sleep. Then they inject the chemical that paralyzes the entire muscular system so the inmate dies of respiratory and cardiac failure. They try their best to make it quick and painless. I think that gas chambers, firing squads and the electric chair are cruel and unusual because there is a large margin for error, the death of the inmate can be extremely slow, and the death of the inmate can be extremely painful. If we are trying to be humane we should not torture the inmate.
After looking through the state-by-state death penalty information what  statistic I found the most interesting was the women.  In almost every state I looked at there were 0-2 women executed. The only one that I saw that surpassed that was Texas with 10 women executed. It made me think a lot. Why are women executed far less then men? Do women commit less crime? Are women better at hiding from their crime? Is it easier for a woman to plead innocent? There has to be a reason behind the small amount of women executed and I am curious what it is.
I do not think any of the crimes listed deserved the death penalty because I do not believe in the death penalty.  I think that death is the easy way out. It happens and then you are done. Any criminal who committed the crimes listed in the document deserves a lifetime in jail. In jail they will settle into a boring, strenuous, lifeless routine. The only thoughts they will have are regret and guilt. Spending your life in jail is miserable and the strongest form of punishment. Sentencing the death penalty is relieving someone of the punishments of jail.
The chart on Illinois current death penalty information reveals that the state of Illinois no longer has the death penalty but it does not give a clue as to why.  I would assume that the death penalty is no longer used in Illinois because the process takes to long, all types of executions are cruel and unusual,  and the murder rate is not high enough to need a death penalty punishment as a warning.
After looking at the fact sheet I stand by my opinion that the death penalty is the wrong answer. Executions are bad for the economy. They are extremely expensive and the taxpayers paying for the death penalty may not support it. The evidence is also solid that race is a large determining factor in utilizing the death penalty. This is an unfair and illegitimate bias that our justice system is using. Only one third of the population supports the death penalty. The death penalty is not the majority opinion in the United States; we are a democracy so we should be able to end it. The death penalty information sight is against the death penalty and so am I. The evidence I found on their sight has made me more secure in my beliefs.

Confused about Teenage Privacy

Drug testing in high schools is something that I do not have a firm opinion on. I always feel like I go back and forth between being for it and against it. I think I feel this way because I am torn in the middle of the two arguments. On one hand I think drugs are terrible. No good can come from using them; they endanger your life and the lives of others. Drugs cloud your judgment and change who you are.  My close friend almost died from using drugs. I am a anti-drug. On the other hand I am an athlete. I am involved in school sports. I think that it is very invasive to drug test. I do not want to give a urine sample to my school. I believe that is something only done at the doctor’s office. We need a certain level of privacy. I go to school to learn and be involved in activities. My parents are the ones who should be concerned with drugs or alcohol.  My teachers and coaches are not my parents. It really isn’t their business. I personally have nothing to hide, I would pass a drug test, but I can’t help feeling on the fence about it.  I see valid reasoning from both sides. In the case of Board of Education v. Earls, I find it hard to decide where I fit in, with the majority or dissenting opinion. Two high school girls were smoking in the school restroom. When the girls were being questioned T.L.O. claimed that she did not smoke. The vice principal went into T.L.O’s purse and found cigarettes and cigarette rolling papers. The rolling papers made the vice principal suspicious about involvement with marijuana so he continued his search and found “ a small amount of marijuana, a pipe, empty plastic bags, a significant amount of money in one-dollar bills, a list of students who owed T.L.O. money, and letters implicating T.L.O. in dealing marijuana.” T.L. O. then admitted to selling marijuana on campus. The majority opinion ruled “ We hold today that school officials need not obtain a warrant before searching a student who is under their authority.”  I do not agree with this opinion. It is such an invasion of privacy to have anything on you searched at school without a warrant. I do not think this ruling should have come out of this case because it does not apply.  Being able to search students without warning is not the same as searching a student who is accused of smoking. There has to be reason behind the search. I believe there should be a warrant. This topic is provocative because it is something that can happen to me. I am a high school student involved in high school activities. These court decisions impact my life. These rulings could cause my possessions to be searched and myself have to submit to drug testing. 
Like I said before I have mixed feelings. Even though I do not think that the unwarranted searches should be allowed I do think that the drug-sniffing dogs should be. If people want to engage in drugs that is their own private personal decision. But school is no place for drugs.  Having drug-sniffing dogs is scary. I would not want one of those dogs start to sniff my possessions and bark. I imagine it would be very frightening. The fear of being caught and the fear of the dogs is enough to keep students from bringing drugs to school. That is the main goal. Students may use drugs outside of school but that is not the schools issue. If the drugs are not at and not being distributed at school the school should have no problem. I know from the article “Drug-Sniffing Dogs Patrol More Schools” in the New York Times, that this method is successful. “ Dogs have searched the school twice since January, and no narcotics have been found,” The dogs are not invading students privacy. They are only finding things that are not allowed. When a teacher searches a students belongings they may find no drugs but other personal and private items. That is why unwarranted searches are invasions of privacy and drug-sniffing dogs are not.

No More Jersey Shore

I have a huge issue with the jersey shore. This is a show with no basis. All it is Italian people living in different locations. They are expected to drink, fight and be promiscuous.  Their daily motto is GTL, this stands for gym, tan, laundry. Not one of the cast members has a goal for the future, they are just partying their lives away.  This show is a worldwide phenomenon. With its fourth season currently airing the cast members are making large amounts of money and expanding their fame. Millions of people tune in Thursday nights to watch the idiocy. Each cast member is well known. They have Halloween costumes based of off them. They have pens that repeat dumb things they have said. They have t-shirts and everything else that contributes to their wealth. I think it is disgusting that our society appreciates this type of entertainment. We are making the scum of the earth wealthy. Why do we promote this type of behavior? Why do we find unintelligence and irresponsible behavior appealing? Snookie is the most famous from this show. She is notorious for saying stupid things, drinking excessively and having sex. What kind of role model is that? I think it is a huge problem that our society idolizes these people. Even if you do not idolize these people but you watch the show you are guilty. Our society needs to embrace a more sophisticated type of entertainment.  We have to recognize that that is not a way of life. We need women to respect themselves. We need men to be respectful of women.  We need to take glamour’s illusion of drinking alcohol away. This show stands for what we should not be. I say no more jersey shore.

Missing the King and Queen

This year, for the first time in my high school career, there was no homecoming court. In years past there was a king and queen from each grade.  The steps to becoming homecoming royalty begin with a nomination. Someone has to nominate you and you have to sign it with your consent. Then ballads are sent to your entire grade during homeroom.  Every student casts one vote for king and queen from the nominees in their grade. The winners from each grade are revealed at the homecoming pep rally. They are brought down in front of the whole school to be presented with their flowers and crowns. It is supposed to be a great honor, an award of congeniality. It should look like those cheesy moments in movies. Unfortunately the students at our school had different intentions for this award. Ever since I was I was a freshman I was hoping to never become homecoming queen because my older sister, who was a junior, informed me that people only get nominated as a joke. Our student body uses homecoming court as a way to publicly humiliate kids. At first I didn’t believe it but each pep assembly proved it to be true. Each kid looked ashamed as sad to have won. This always bothered me. Homecoming is a time when our school is supposed to come together with pride and spirit. We are all eager to win the football game, we can’t wait to get dressed up and go to the dance and the dress up days make school a fun place to be at. I don’t understand why such a happy time would instigate such hostility. Why would students prefer to embarrass someone instead of honor them? What is wrong with selecting a king and queen that embody the qualities that the award was originally intended for? This year the school did not cancel homecoming court. It was there, but no one would give his or her consent to being nominated out of fear of embarrassment. Ultimately I think it was a good thing that no one was acknowledged in front of the whole school for the wrong reasons.  I would rather have a happy pep assembly with no homecoming court than a pep assembly that made students feel miserable. Even though I feel it was good that we didn’t have it this year, I think it is important that it is something we restore. Homecoming king and queen is something kids are aware of from a young age. Movies and television glorify this award to be the highlight of high school. I think it is a terrible shame that our school doesn’t live up to this reputation. I think that if the award were something desirable homecoming would have one more event that makes it so fun. It could only enhance our school spirit. It is a serious issue that we have moved away from tradition and turned it into something bad.