Issue #3 Can you dye your hair or wear a nose-ring to school?

A 15 year old boy Robert Olff was told that he could not go to class until he cut his hair. In the school rule book, their were hair rules for males but not females. The Olff's sued the school for not letting him have freedom of expression. The court ruled in favor of Robert Olff because the U.S. Constitution protects the freedom to determine your own hairstyle and personal appearance. This is also the same with religious expressions because the right to have religious expressions is also covered by the U.S. Constitution. Now here's a quick thought: Should private schools be able to take away more freedoms than a public school?

Issue #2 school drug testing

Students and parents today are getting offended and angry with school districts wanting to randomly drug test athletes. In protest Jimmy Acton sued his school district for wanted to drug test him, the Acton's said that the drug test was an unreasonable search and seizure. The court ruled in favor of the school district because their was probably cause for starting the random drug testing. The goal of the testing was to lower drug use in athletes. something that the book said that i found interesting was, "... the U.S. Supreme Court considereed a student's expectation of privacy. You surrender some privacy when you go to school. Your parents turn over temporary custody to the school, for education and disciplinary purposes when necessary." By trying out for a school team and participating, you are surrendering even more privacy rights because you must give forth insurance information, a physical exam, and change in front of others in the locker room.
Many students believe that drug testing for extracurricular activities is too much as well. The court believes that because these activities are voluntary, it justifies the rule. In my own opinion, just like the students here i would also be angry and frustrated. But, because your volunteering to do the sport(s) for your school, you are  surrendering your privacy and also volunteering to follow the rules.

Issue #1: Sexual Harassment at School

One of the many issues that Thomas A. Jacobs goes over in his book, "Teens on Trial," is sexual harassment in schools. I found that its a very important topic because this comes up in the media quite often whether its student-teacher relationships or sexual assault by a teacher to a student. More recently, this topic has been talked about a lot due to what has happened at Penn State... But I'm not going to get into that.
In the case of gebser C. Lago Vista Independent School District, a 13-year-old girl Alida Gebser and Frank Waldrop had been working together for tutoring purposes. Over time Mr. Wldrop would make sexual remarks to Alida, in the classroom and at her home. The remarks eventually went further as the relationship progressed. It turned into kissing, fondling, and even sex. Alida did not report any of this behavior to an adult and did not tell anyone at all. This was not found out about until a police officer found them having sex in a parked car. Mr. Waldrop was fired and had his teaching license revoked. Alida and her mother then sued Mr Waldrop and the school district, "claiming negligence and discrimination based on sex. Alida and her mother also held the school district responsible for failing to prevent the teachers misconduct."
In the court decision, the Supreme Court ruled the school district not liable because they had no way of finding out. Alida never reported the incidents so there was no way of anyone knowing. The school found out of this once they were caught by the police officer, where Mr. Waldrop was fired immediately after. The courts made their ruling so that the Gebser's would be able to sue Mr. Waldrop for damages, which is what they did.
If the school was informed before hand of the sexual harassment before and did nothing about it, then Alida and her mother would be able to sue the school district. Alida is also at fault because she didn't tell anyone about these acts and let it continue for quite a long time. Once a school had knowledge of such illegal acts, they can be held responsible if no action is taken.
I think that this is very reasonable for the school district and the students. There's no possible way that a district would know that a teacher would be sexually assaulting students if nothing is reported, and if there is no past record then it would not be able to be seen. Alida should have taken responsibility and told an adult of what was going on so it could have been stopped before it had gotten too far. If a school does not treat complaints or problems then they can be sued for those problems and not recieve immunity from the court.

Invisible Children

After watching the rough cut video and clicking through the organizations website, i was at how much Deerfield High School could help. Deerfield is well known for good academics and athletics, but we also do a phenomenal amount of fundraising. The one page of the website, it shows leaders of teams and individuals who have raised the most money. The second top ranked team was a high school that raised 20,000 dollars. Last year Deerfield High School raised almost 100,000 dollars and im very confident that we will go above and beyond that number. Some things that are pushing the students is that its a organization run by the youth, and its for the youth. Also to think that our school would build enough money to have our own radio tower with the DHS name on it would impact everyone in the north shore of Chicago and that radio tower would stand tall with our name on it for a very long time. If we are able to send one student to Uganda and bring back a picture of the tower with DHS on it, it would be well worth our efforts and time.

Teens on Trial by: Thomas A. Jacobs, J.D. Post #1

I chose the book, "Teens on Trial," because it has direct relation to what our class is about, and it also has direct relation to me. The book goes over important cases that have gone to the supreme court that involved teenagers, then gives other examples surrounding the issue so that the reader may better understand it. The book covers issues that we have gone over in class such as the death penalty, Privacy in school, drug testing in school and more. The book also covers issues we haven't gone over such as sexual harassment, be hospitalized, and permanent records. I decided to use this book for my semester project because it directly relates to our class, and it would give me more understanding of what we are learning and i would be able to better understand what rights i have in and out of school.

Abortion

Between the NARAL-Prochoice America and National Right to Life websites, I think that i can't really say that one website is better than the other because they are different from each other. Obviously one is for Pro choice and the other Pro life. I think both are very convincing. National Right to Life gives "Quick Facts" on their site that can be very compelling for some. NARAL's website is very well designed and it says that they are pro choice, but they want to help stop more abortions by teaching people about birth control and giving sex education. They also say that, "We will always have to fight to keep abortion safe and legal. This means defeating attacks in Congress and in the states." Both websites impact my thoughts, but in the end i will always go straight to what i believe and that is pro choice.
As a 17 year old boy i strongly believe in a persons own decision. As far as parents go?... its a tough stop. I think it would be good for the parents to know, but its not a necessity. But i do believe that whether they know or not, the woman should be able to make her own decision on whether or not she keeps the child. I believe that because its their body and they have a right to do what they wish with their body.
Its also tough to say where the man stands because he is the other half and it is his child, but i think a child would change a womans life more so than a mans. Also, the father of the child is not always known due to rape or other reasons. Because of this, i think that there shouldn't be a need for concent from the male.
From looking at past bills on abortion, it seems that Illinois would be labeled as prolife. The website though, worked to show that the bills were unfair to woman and their health which is why the bills didn't pass. Its hard for me to argue the laws on abortions because I don't know the technicallities of the birth process but i believe that its not ok if the process of an adortion being legal is cut to the point where its very difficult to get one.

Final Death Penalty Post

I believe that the death penalty being abolished in Illinois is extremely just and right. I think that if a group of students at Northwestern University can find 17 men innocent/had a faulty trial, there is something wrong with the system that determines the life or death of a man. Some men were given unfair trials, such as black men who were put up against an all white jury.  Also, some men were given attorneys who had shortly later been banned from practicing law. Gov. Ryan gave a story that i thought was very important, that was about Claude Lee. Ryan explained how this man was clearly innocent of his crime of killing a police officer, but he was seriously ill. Lee has a history of mental illness treatment for many years and I don't think that this can be pushed aside. Gov. Ryan said something that made me believe that this was a hard decision for him and he had to toss and turn over every idea:
"But I had to ask myself - could I send another man's son to death under the deeply flawed system of capital punishment we have in Illinois? A troubled young man, with a history of mental illness? Could I rely on the system of justice we have in Illinois not to make another horrible mistake? Could I rely on a fair sentencing?"
From the facts on past cases that included the death penalty, I don't think we can necessarily rely on the justice system. I think a man/woman who has a serious illness shouldn't be put to death, they deserve help that could be provided by the courts.
We have learned through this unit that there can be many different kinds of miss trials. There can be racism, shortened appeals/trails, faulty attorneys given to the defendant, evidence from inmate to get less time, and faulty evidence. Many of these cases were found in the trials that were looked over by Northwestern and they were found in the court cases looked over in our class room. I don't think Gov. Ryan stopped the death penalty because he didn't like it, he did it because the system was so wrong that it had to be stopped and then fixed.
"But for decades, the debate over capital punishment rarely strayed from whether it was right or wrong, a moral argument that was waged mostly by a narrow group of attorneys and abolition supporters that could be easily dismissed. Public opinion polls showed little movement. Death sentences and executions hit record levels. Inmates like the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, whose guilt was never in question, were put to death and caused little controversy. But when a miscarriage of justice was discovered and a death row inmate was set free, the police and prosecutors contended that it was an isolated incident, an anomaly. They got little argument."
The 4th Amendment gives Americans the right to have a FAIR trial in front of a jury. It was found that many men weren't given a fair trial and whether they were guilty or not, it did not matter because we should all have the same treatments, rights, and opportunities. Gov. Ryan didn't end capitol punishment because he was against it, but because it was unjust in the process that the men had to go through to end up on death row. Because of the mistrials, many innocent men were on death row for 10+ years and many opportunities in America were gone because they were waiting to die. Many people wonder if the death penalty is 'cruel and unusual' but i think the bigger question is if its just. It was found that nearly half of 300 men who were on death row shouldn't have been there... That is unjust.