Thursday, September 17, 2009

Civil Liberties

Please go to the website of the American Civil Liberties Union. Spend at least 30 minutes on it, clicking on links of your choice. Specifically, what was the most interesting controversy/issue for you? Why?

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope that the aclu can make some headway with the patriot act hearing next week.
The patriot act is a disgrace to this country, and needs to go away as rapidly as it appeared.

Anonymous said...

harry truman

Anonymous said...

It's not at all surprising to see that the Obama administration is looking to keep an open mind about reforming the Patriot Act, given that Obama didn't vote for it without question in 2001.
But reforming it is not good enough in my opinion. Like the other guy said, it needs to go away. Once this kind of legislation is allowed in, it tends to grow, like a cancer, then the next thing we know, we have no civil liberties left, and for what purpose? Piece of mind? To put our fears to rest? Can anyone really say, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Patriot Act has prevented further attacks on American soil?
Steve Camp

Unknown said...

In some areas the ACLU seems to push correctly for some personal freedoms that should not be encroached upon, but in other areas they seem to disregard personal freedoms of one group to satisfy one persons complaint. In this sense they seem to be pushing a lot of times, their own agenda instead of what's right. I understand we live in a democratic society, but there is a mentality today that if everyone agrees something isn't wrong, then that makes it right. I mean, for instance, what if we all grew up thinking like Charles Manson? Bill Watterson once said "I don't know if there is any connection in what we need and what we like". I would have to agree in the sense that Moral Relativity is rather dangerous and an absolute truth (a solid foundation) is needed for a society to flourish. Personal responsibility seems to have gone out the window and it seems that we are quick to blame someone or something else for our actions. Ravi Zacharias says, in his podcast 'Cultural Relativism & the Emasculation of Truth' a lot of this is because: Revelation has been displaced by Reason, Truth has been subverted by Agnosticism, and the Propositional is replaced by the Visual. As for a truthful message: "Intent is prior to content" (Ravi).
-Brian M.

Anonymous said...

For the past 50 years game wardens have been able to stop any atv or snowmobiles for no reason at all. As the article states it is violating the fourth amendemnt. This was recently an issue that was brought to the highest of maine court officals and was voted to keep things the way there are at a 4 to 3 vote.
I dont see how this can be allowed when they say its not ok to pull over a car for no reason. On a fourwheeler there are registrationg sticker that are notciable when going by. Now if they can not be seen then they have probably cause to stop you. But I still don't understand how the state allows game wardens to stop anyone they see when it cleary viloates our fourth amendment.
chad bussiere

Anonymous said...

I think the House subcommittee should seriously consider the bill to end "life without parole for children" as put before them by the ACLU and CERD. Children are supposed to be taught to be responsible for their actions. But they are supposed to have 18 years to learn. Children do not develop true cognitive thinking and reasoning skills until they are in the early 20's. They have what are called parents and guardians who are supposed to help and guide them until they reach maturity. Where are these so called adults when these children are committing such horrific crimes? Who is really responsible? I think the parents/guardians should be held as responsible for the crimes as much as the children.
Edith Dostie

Unknown said...

The article about abstinence before marriage programs using tax payer money to push a religious agenda is quite interesting. The seperation of church and state is violated here, but as the article states abstinence should be taught. However abstinence doesn't necessarily have to be a religious agenda. How about just promoting abstinence as a safe sex method? Also I believe that the ACLU is right that when abstinence is taught, safe sex should also be taught, because studies have shown that "sex education curricula that discuss contraception—by presenting accurate information about contraceptive options, effectiveness, and use—do not increase sexual activity." Overall, safe sex courses should be funded with taxpayer dollars as long as every method is discussed and not just the religious aspects.
_Ashlee Kates

Anonymous said...

I think that the patriot act is a good thing. Who cares if you get stopped for "no reason", whats it hurt? If you are not doing anyhting wrong then why does it bug people so much. Won't you be glad if these random stops or telephone or email searches does lead to somehting big. It may prevent another 9/11 from happening again. Then again it may not but I know I am willing to allow government to do this in order to be safe. I would rather be safe then sorry and if you think about it, how much does a random 2 minute stop actually or a telephone search hurt.
-Matt Sceviour

Anonymous said...

Policing in the world is taken in so many different ways. I think that the law force and civilians are both at a point where the meaning of each is thrown off. For example police officers are patroling campuses without guidelines of any such leading to problems. Yes, police officers can stop anyone at any given time on snowmobiles, this is what keeps people safe and fair, but to stop kids in school because of thier race is a whole other story. To better explain myself is that law enforcement has some sort of guideline to follow so if people are following them and not being harmed then what's the harm right. On the other hand there are bigger problems for example, if police officers are no going by the rules of racial justice then it is a good example not working hand in hand, anad no structure what so ever.
-Olenka Kozak

Anonymous said...

should abortion be legal? it is a touchy subject to some but to others its just plain wrong. i think the world is full of irresponsible sick people who would rather take away life then have to actually grow up and be adults. anybody ever see a birth? usually around nine months right? well in New York you can abort at nine months while the unborn child is fully developed and moments away from its first breath. in most states including maine abortion is legal. so its ok to commit murder but i have to pay $70 bucks if i dont want to wear my seatbelt because its uncomfortable? theres no excuse right? -Jesse Buzzell

Aaron Fitzgerald said...

I think it's a terrible thing when partners of same-sex couples are barred from seeing their loved one in an emergency situation. Too often do hospitals and emergency clinics refuse visitation to unwed gays and lesbians. In the LGBT community there are so many organizations out there to help people in these types of situations. In the article I read a lesbian couple were in an emergency situation and the doctors as well as the paramedics would not listen to nor take advice from the woman’s partner. Due to the woman’s epilepsy the couple had filled out extensive paperwork to make her partner able to make emergency decisions and advise doctors, in hope this type of situation may never arise. So many hospitals and organizations don’t recognize same-sex relationships or domestic partnerships. This is why marriage for same-sex couples is so important for society. Domestic Partnerships and Civil Unions don’t give same-sex couples the same benefits and rights as marriage does. If anyone out there think that same-sex couples should not be wed just think for a moment about your own marriage or relationships. What if you did not have the right of marriage? Would you trade your marriage for a Domestic Partnership or Civil Union?

Daniel Dzengelewski said...

People With HIV are “Dangerous As Rattlesnakes”

This blog talks about how Prisoners diagnosed with the HIV disease, are being discriminate against. The article introduces one prison, The Alabama department of Corrections’, who are in the process of letting the HIV positive prisoners be as equal as the ones without HIV. For many years prisoners were being treated horrible because of their disease, they were told to wear different colored uniforms so other prisoners could tell who was diagnosed with HIV or not. Some of the wardens think the prisoners will deliberately bite or spread the disease to other inmates. I believe there shouldn’t be any discrimination towards people with HIV, they shouldn’t be kept out of work release programs or going to the chapel. They are all criminals, and they all should be treated for they way they acted to get her, not for what dieses they have. I don’t think people with HIV are as dangerous as rattlesnakes.
-Daniel Dzengelewski-

Matt Demers said...

I don't think anyone would disagree that the execution of an innocent person on death row because of a flaw in our criminal justice system is a horrible thing. It has happened at least nine times and possibly many more according to the article, but if there were no death sentence then real criminals on death row would be kept in prison for life which only adds to the already drastically overcrowded prison system. I do not believe the issue is the death penalty. I feel our criminal justice system should take more steps to know that they are putting a dangerous criminal on death row and not an innocent person.

Anonymous said...

Executing the Innocent.
So basically they get a trial and are proven guilty for the accusation, but then they later find out the the person was wrongfully charged? or that they don't think that the persons crime is bad enough to be charged with execution. If a person kills someone they does that mean that they should die for that too? I think that if the person killed someone or their crime is a bad crime determined by some law then they should have execution because everyone paying taxes is helping them live in jail when they sometimes took someone's loved one away. If they are proven innocent then they shouldn't be executed they should examine all the people to see if they are innocent or not.
Samantha Martineau

Laura Langlin said...

The most interesting topic that I found, was in Tokpeka Kansas. A school board was considering random drug tests to give their teachers. This is interesting because not only does it violate their rights as American citizens, but where did this decision come from? They're more worried about the teachers and their habits, rather than the kids who are in the classrooms and who are the future of this society.
The Supreme Court had said that the random drug tests could be used in such cases of high- safety issued jobs, such as an airplane pilot. So how did the school board even justify their decision of stretching the high safety issued jobs out to teachers?
And also, at the end of the article it says "can produce an unacceptably high rate of false-positives"....okay, so what's the point of even bringing this up to the school board if the test results won't even be legit.

Anonymous said...

leo
the people of Iraq will never take control of their country because their is too much friction between them.By the time that the us gets out they will be invaded by Iran and then the us will have to go back in.

Anonymous said...

The most interesting controversy for me were the anti-sleeping ordinances in Santa Barbara. Homeless people are being penalized though citations, fines and arrest, because the shelter is closed and they have no where else to go but to sleep on the street. Many of these people also have disabilities. By doing this they are making an hard situation even harder for these individuals. The city could help fix the problem if they spent the money they are currently spending on law enforcement on shelters.

~Jennifer Weeman

Anonymous said...

I think that people today are too whiny and too spoiled. Im tired of hearing about how the Patriot Act and such things are impeding on peoples rights and are unconstitutional. The only reason that the Patriot Act is in exsistence is because differnt levels of governement, all together, felt that it was necessary. Government passes laws that it feels are needed and are necessary based on the direction that the country is headed. If the laws that are in exsistence don't accurately reflect our views, then our government needs to head into a different direction. The morals, and the views that our country holds are constantly changing...they aren't the same as 50 years ago are they? It is expected that laws that were passed years ago are going to clash. People need to calm down and stop whining. 8 years ago, our country was in a defensive and unstable state. It is only expected that the laws that were passed during that time aren't going to refelct the views that we currently hold.
sierra cromwell

jesse jarvi said...

Drug law reform
I think what California is doing is a good idea to lower some of the wobble charges from felonies to misdemeanors. And turning petty drug trafficking into simple possession charges so that they can be handled at the county level. I feel that they are on to something. So this keeps the prisons and jails cleared so they can save money, and also it helps the people out so their record doesn’t look as bad if they wanted to get a job after. I feel that this could work well especially in California. Jesse Jarvi

Tyler said...

When it comes to the patriot act, I think that it is a goofd thing for the government to be able to stop whoever they want when they want. I know that the chances of them actually catching someone who is going to do something that is terrible are slime, but when they do catch a terrorist, it would have all been for the better.

Anonymous said...

I was most interested in the controversy surrounding the Bagram detention center for POW's. I think that if the military can just continue moving these people around before you know about it then how can lawsuits for records really help? The military can just stall by saying that it is a matter of national security long enough to move the worste cases of abuse away.
-Dane Wong

Anonymous said...

So abortion is wrong?
I suppose deciding to bring a child into a world where his/her best option will be to drop out of school, join a gang and become a drug dealer is for the greater good?
Dont get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that aborting a child in the third trimester is without moral question, but lets get real, MOST abortions take place inside of the first trimester, and MOST abortions are sought after by young, poor women who have no real ability to provide opportunity for the unborn child in question. Bottom line-- it's a lot more responsible and sane to have an abortion than it is to bring another child into the world that will just add to the social problem. Many of these cases end up in jail, or on welfare, or reliant on some other tax-payer funded social program that is part of the reason why this country is in the mess that it is in the first place. And how can we forget about prostitution and rape pregnancy?
It's also unrealistic to expect kids to practice safe, responsible sex 100% of the time. Some would argue the morality of teaching sex-ed to 14 year olds anyways, and it's unrealistic in this demography to expect teens to practice abstinence. There is too much influence on T.V. and on the internet.
I highly doubt that Americans are going to take to kindly to legislation that limits how many children they are allowed to have, or law-makers making unauthorized pregnency punishable by fines and/or jail time.
It seems like pro-life is a luxury that this society just cant afford. Abortion is a form of triage. It's harsh, but the last time I looked, Life is harsh, and unfair.
I hear all of these Pro-Lifers screaming bloody murder, but I havent seen them provide ONE realistic solution or alternative. Until then, ladies, by all means, do what you must with your body.
S. Camp

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