Colorado Theater Involved in Shooting Sued

Testimony To Begin In Civil Trial Against Colorado Theater

5/10/2106

Opening statements are being made in a civil trial against the company that own the movie theater where a shooting occurred in 2012. Twenty-eight victims and their families are suing, saying the chain should have done more to prevent the shooting that killed twelve and left more than seventy injured. This shooting, which occurred at the Aurora Century 16 Theater, was perpetrated by James Eagan Holmes on July 20th, 2012 during a midnight release of the movie The Dark Knight Rises.

This civil suit has been brought up because one party believes that the other party has slighted or harmed another, and the first party wants reparations. This case is different than the criminal suit that is being tried against Holmes. If any member of either of those trials believes that their case was mishandled they can appeal their decisions, and get a higher courts ruling on the handling of their case. This appeal would be handled by the appropriate appellate court, which is a court with appellate jurisdiction. 

NASA unveils new space telescope

NASA’s new gold-covered telescope will put the Hubble to shame

4/28/16

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/04/28/nasas-new-gold-covered-telescope-will-put-the-hubble-to-shame/



NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has unveiled the James Webb Space Telescope. This new space telescope is a 14300 pound, $8.8 billion piece of hardware. This telescope has been in the works for more than two decades. This telescope is powerful enough to capture the heat signature of a bumblebee on the moon. This project, however impressive, has been fraught with controversy. Certain members of the United States Congress have tried to de-fund the project for years. Many do not see the inherent importance of this new technological and scientific advancement. In 2011 one of those attempts was even close to succeeding in killing this amazing thing. With the project falling behind schedule members of the House Appropriations Committee tried to take away it's funding in a 2011/2012 spending bill.


NASA is an administration that is part of the much larger Federal Bureaucracy. It's job is to "pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research." This independent agency is given much leeway and discretionary authority within it's day to day operation. While congress still has to fund large projects pushed by the agency, much of it's operation is too complex for and specified for individual congresspeople to understand. This agency was given it's authorization legislation in 1958 to look forward and to push for scientific greatness. This is something the agency has accomplished, and continues to accomplish today
.

President Obama Grant Clemency to More Individuals

President Obama Has Now Commuted the Sentences of 248 Individuals

3/31/16

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/30/president-obama-has-now-commuted-sentences-248-individuals

President Obama commuted the sentences of an additional 61 people, over a third of whom were serving life sentences. This brings the total of people he has commuted the sentences of to 248. This is greater than the previous six presidents combined. He has done this in a commitment to bringing about change in the criminal justice program. He hopes to commute the sentences of those who will make the most of their newfound freedom. The White House will also hold a briefing titled Life After Clemency. This briefing will help discuss the paths available to re-enter society.

This power that Obama has used is the power to grant clemency or to grant forgiveness for a crime. The president also has the power to grant reprieves, or delays the punishment for a crime, and pardons, forgiveness for a crime entirely. These powers are express powers of the presidency as enumerated in the Constitution. President Obama has been using these powers because the current political climate will not punish him for doing so. He believes, as do a majority of Americans, that the criminal justice system needs revising and changing to become fair. They agree that punishments are outdated and too harsh upon many Americans. This is not just a view of liberalism, this is a view of the American people as a whole.

Pete Aguilar

Democratic Representative of California's 31st District

3/21/16

Unit 4 - Part 1

A typical orange grove, like that
in Aguilar's district

Pete Aguilar was a city council member and a mayor of the city of Redlands City. While raising over two million dollars, his biggest political contributors are all five thousand dollars or less. He has recieved multiple contributions from unions and agricultural PACs. Aguilar represents California’s 31st district, which contains the city of San Bernardino, the outlying suburbs, and the fruit growing agricultural area around. This means he is an agriculturally based, suburban, Democratic representative. Aguilar has served for three terms in congress. He is a member of the House Committee on Agriculture. He is likely to oppose the ENCRYPT Act of 2016 because of his district’s involvement in the recent San Bernardino shooting, and the debate about breaking into the shooters iPhone. His constituents likely would try and ban encryption in some forms. He is unlikely to support the Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act of 2016, because of his party affiliation. He is likely to support the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015 based on his voting record on other criminal justice reform bills.

Mitt Romney Makes Comments About Donald Trump

Mitt Romney: Donald Trump "a phony, a fraud"

3/2/16

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/campaign-2016-mitt-romney-donald-trump-a-phony-a-fraud/

Mitt Romney made comments about Donald Trump in a statement to the media today. His main message is warning and pleading voters in the Republican political party to not vote for the exceedingly popular real estate magnate. The former Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, urges voters that "His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University," and that "Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud." Donald Trump responded in his usual battery of hyperbolic twitter rantings, calling attention to the loss of Romney in the 2012, saying that Romney ran "one of the worst races in presidential history." 

These comments come from the increasingly scared Republican party establishment. As Donald Trump continues amass delegates from his caucus and primary wins the establishment that Trump has so effectively ran against is desperately trying to get someone they can predict and control in The White House. According to this article there is even talks of people approaching former Texas Governor Rick Perry to run a third-party bid in this Presidential race. The party is desperate for a candidate that they like, and it doesn't seem like they are likely to get one this race. These fissures in the Republican Party are not good signs for it's future in the next few election cycles. We may very well see the end of the modern Republican party within our lifetimes.

Voter ID Law Goes to Court

Virginia's voter ID law challenged in federal trial

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-virginia-votingrights-idUSKCN0VV169

2/22/16

A piece of legislation in Virginia goes on trial today over it's legality. The law, which requires that voters bring photo ID when casting their ballots, is deemed by democrats to be discriminatory, and illegal. They believe that this law is an attempt of a failing republican party to disenfranchise voters that would vote against them. The law has been shown to affect poor, minority, and young voters, as they are more unlikely to have photo identification. These demographics are key demographics in the democratic party, as they are more likely to oppose conservatism and support liberalism. State election records show that about 197,000 registered voters do not have any form of acceptable photo ID, and only 4,117 free voter identification cards have been acquired since the records were collected.


In modern American history, the higher courts have begun to favor larger rights of voters and greater inclusion in the democratic process. The 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, and the 24th Amendment have all been made to protect the rights of people who have had their voting rights curtailed by their respective state governments. These laws are made, supposedly, to stop the crime of voter fraud, a crime that has only had 5 recorded cases in recent memory. While making legislation to uphold the law is admirable, the manner that this is being enacted is fundamentally wrong. This law, and laws like it, do not affect citizens equally, and undermine the power of certain populations in our elections. Our democracy should strive to enable as many voters as possible, not try and limit certain people's access to the polls.

Kim Davis Cleared of Additional Legal Reprocussions

2/10/16

Judge clears Kentucky clerk, OKs marriage licenses with her name removed

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kentucky-gaymarriage-idUSKCN0VJ1Q1

In what appears to be the final development in the Kim Davis marriage licence case, a federal judge cleared Kim Davis, an ideologue of conservatism, of any remaining contempt charges, and has enforced the court's decision to uphold marriage equality. The compromise that was reached through the order of Governor Matt Blevin was that the names of county clerks be removed from all new marriage licences to honor the religious beliefs of the clerks, but the newly enforced right of homosexual couples to marry be honored. Since returning to work Kim Davis has not hindered the process of new marriage licences going though, but has distanced herself from the process. When the Governor's order went through, the ACLU sued Davis on behalf of various same-sex couples, saying she was not in compliance with written law stating she had to fill out her name on all marriage licences. The federal judge stated that it was perfectly fine to not fill in her name or information and upheld the governors order.

This story relates to a perfect example of selective incorporation, a power given to the supreme court through an interpretation of the 14th Amendment that became popular in the 1920's. The Supreme Court's decision to protect the right of same-sex couple to marry became the law of the land when their final decision was made. They selectively incorporated this right through their interpretation of the constitution. The supremacy of the national government ensures that any any conflict with state or local law about marriage equality is ruled in the favor of the national government. While it is Kim Davis's right to hold her own personal and religious beliefs about the matter, it was ultimately illegal to deny other people a right guaranteed to them by the federal government.