Ordinary citizens don’t always know all of the facts about the government or rights as a United States citizen. There is a certain amount of information that citizens need to know. The government was created to protect and serve the citizens of the United States, but if the people don’t have all of the information, then they cannot make the right decisions. Schools should consider having a government class in high school so that the students can learn valuable information to have in their daily lives. People make decisions that affect everyday life daily, but it is not always the right decision to make. When trying to make a decision, people need to know the laws that could affect their decision making. Interpreting laws can be a difficult …show more content…
It can aid citizens when voting for new laws, going to serve on a jury in court, or paying for taxes. No one really knows what their civic responsibilities and duties which makes having government class even more important, so that students can learn what their responsibilities and duties are in the United States. It reminds me of when we were taking notes over the duties and responsibilities that people had as citizens. My teacher asked the class to name off the duties and no one ever said anything, which provides an explanation of what we know of as United States citizens. Having real knowledge of the laws that are created can keep students from making bad choices or not doing a duty that is expected of us to do. When I had government class, I remember taking notes about laws that could affect me being a teenager or as an adult. This reminded me to be careful when making decisions because if I decide to make a decision that could have horrible consequences, it could affect my life now or in the future. Having knowledge of these laws has kept me on the right path and will help other students stay on …show more content…
One time in class, we had a discussion over what we thought our rights were in the first amendment. All of us thought we knew all of the knowledge that was in the first amendment, but we were proved wrong by our teacher. Mr.Culp provided the real written first amendment that explained the rights that we had as citizens until a certain point which none of us known without being taught the information. It fully explained the rights that we had as citizens, until we do something wrong that could hurt or affect someone else. If someone does something that affects other people, then it will violate the law and our first amendment will not protect you anymore when that limit is reached. Students have their own thoughts on what their rights are, instead of the actual rights that they have because other people’s influence or what they learn from technology. Having a class that teaches the truth about citizen’s rights can create successful, knowledgeable students. It can aid students when they go out into the real world after high school. Government class can provide knowledgeable information to students for them to protect themselves when facing something in life. It provides insight on the rights that students really do have and the kind of rights that they do not have. This class can lead students to
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
The first amendment is being abused by more people now than ever before. People like to shout, “First Amendment” when they find themselves in a controversial situation because of certain things they wrote or spoke about. People are being less responsible for their actions and are blaming the constitution for their slip-ups. In “Free-Speech Follies” by Stanley Fish, Fish addresses the First Amendment issue. Fish claims that people use the First Amendment to try to get themselves out of trouble or criticism and that they need to start being responsible for their actions and need to start having a sense of judgment.
Teachers and textbook publishers fear to mention anything that the bureaucrats who control budgets and hiring and firing might disfavor. Any serious criticism of government is omitted from the student's lessons. Vital knowledge about law, our heritage, and the history of the struggle for liberty and justice are not passed on to the next generation. Our Common House is in a shambles. The roof leaks and the foundations are rotting.
A great deal of bills have been written and passed as legislation under the pretense that they would better outline the citizen’ rights and ensure their freedoms. Yet occasionally these laws are created with disregard to what is stated in our Constitution. At times they distort and twist the original meaning of the work, counter acting the purpose of creating the Amendments. The intention of Amendments was to be an outline of the rights of the people. They were to ensure that there would not be a repeat of what the framers had experienced when they set out on their mission to draft a document that would govern our country for years to come. Little by little our elected officials have been discounting our Constitution. There are many resulting repercussions; the most dear to everyone being the individuals rights. The end result of these interpretations being that our people are hurt, as we are slowly being stripped of our rights as U.S. citizens.
Do the First and Fourth Amendments Protect?" Current Issues & Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument with Readings. Ed. Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 1999. 316-324.
Our founding fathers wrote the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to protect our most basic rights as citizens of the United States, and although creating the Constitution was an arduous effort, eventually the new Americans came to an agreement over what was included. “The Bill of Rights — the first 10 amendments to the Constitution — went into effect on Dec. 15, 1791, when the state of Virginia ratified it, giving the bill the majority of ratifying states required to protect citizens from the power of the federal government.” (First Amendment Center). After the first amendment went into effect, all religious minorities were now protected from persecution, and people could freely speak their
The First Amendment Center conducts a national annual survey on the First Amendment. “Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and to whom they should fully apply. To me the results of this year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people - our nation’s future leaders - about our basic freedoms.” (Gene Policinski, VP and executive director of the First Amendment Center 2007)
The first approach is assessing the Law according to its target audience. This is beneficial as it defines the context in which the text is applying itself to. Hays mentions, “Connecting texts to their contexts is a basic tenet of proper interpretive method. The Law is part of a story, and this story thus provides a critical context for interpreting the Law.” This approach can be problematic as meaning of a particular law could be misinterpreted to fit the context in which it is placed in. The Law may be given in a specific instance; however, it could have a general meaning, which could be lost using this approach.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of religion, speech, writing and publishing, peaceful assembly, and the freedom to raise protests with the Government. Without the First Amendment, protesters could be harmed or jailed, minorities may be mistreated, a nationwide religion may be enforced, and citizens would not be able to voice their opinions on what the government is doing. However, even though the first amendment grants freedom to people’s choices, it is yet limited.
The first amendment states every United States citizen has the right to press, petition, assembly freedom of religion, and freedom of speech. Also, the amendment states the government is not allowed to make any law that breaks the rights of a citizen. In the case, Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969), the argument was if the students’ first amendment was violated, but the public schools are not an appropriate place to express freedom of speech.
No argument shall take place against amendment one, amendment two, and amendment four because they apply in daily lives of all citizens. All citizens should freely speak their mind without disturbing public education. Citizens should remember about the National Firearms act before buying any firearms and getting a militia type gun or a shotgun with an eighteen inch barrel. Officers are required to have a search warrant before entering a citizens home, but school officials need a reasonable reason before searching a student’s belongings. School officials and students also should remember the exclusionary rule. The Bill of Rights and all other amendments served every citizen like a forever helping friend. The Supreme court plays its role to make decisions for cases that act as role models for other citizens and in the future.
Yet, still even with this, the American people still needed individual protection from the government. With this being said, the Bill of Rights was created to further protect the liberties of American citizens. The Bill of Rights is a list of ten amendments that would guarantee the rights of the people (Bill of Rights). This document was created to ensure the government did not get too much power, but current day it can be observed how the government is trying to clip away at these amendments, trying to convince the people that they are not necessary. This can be seen with the two most currently most debated amendments, the first and second (Discussing Controversial Topics). The First Amendment, as stated in the Bill of Rights, is as so, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
The American government prides itself on the foundational principle of democracy which allows individual voices to be heard. Afterall, the roots of power in our nation stem from the people. The Constitution was established to ensure the balance of powers among the federal government, state legislature, and the common people. Time, however, has worked against the American people in the battle towards democracy. The idea of a governing body drawing its power directly from its constituents has been undermined by the corrupt nature of modern politics where politicians act out of self-interest. While the Constitution and later amendments had every intention of securing basic liberties, certain limitations later undermined the original intentions of the founding fathers to give power back to the people by placing the larger majority of power in the hands of the state.
1.The strict supremacy of statute over judicial decisions and a tradition of literalism in statutory interpretation, 2. Where no legislation exists, the courts are bound by the doctrine of precedent in accordance with a strict hierarchy of judicial authority, 3. In the absence of a relevant precedent, the judges will be guided by legal principle and reasoning by analogy, and 4. There is clear way of distinguishing the ratio of a case…
“Democratic citizens recognize that they not only have rights, they have responsibilities.” (www.ait.org.tw, Principles of Democracy: Citizens Responsibilities). Being a citizen of the U.S. has many responsibilities, roles, and rights, such as voting, volunteering , obeying laws, and being active within their community. It is important for the citizens of a state to partake in these type of responsibilities. for the strength of the community, state, and government (studyzone.org, Citizenship: Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities).