Blog #4

 First Amendment Language COVID-19

By: Meagan Flynn

April 1, 2021

Article: US News: COVID-19 Pushing US to a Breaking Point

In our Media, Law, and Literacy class, we have been talking about the First Amendment with the Six clauses/freedoms, the eight values of free expression, the speech/action dichotomy, and the Bedrock Principles. COVID-19 has been the international pandemic causing trouble to all for the past year. We have had to alter our lives just to keep others and ourselves safe. As always, people have their opinions and can go against the CDC and government mandates. As the Bedrock Principle states, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable." 

In the article by US News, they explain that people, especially school teachers, are reaching a breaking point with the virus. Children are missing school, dying, and falling behind on practically growing up. There comes a point where schools are to be shut down to lower the sickness and death rates. A quote from the article is, "The Teams are getting exhausted." I believe this is not only teachers, but everyone in the world. We have to constantly wear masks, social distance, and get retested before going to another state. There is only so much time until people start going against orders and doing what they want to do in their lives. 

Depending on the state that someone lives, there are guidelines for face coverings and the different vaccines offered. However, the specific guidelines won't stop anyone from getting what they want. The First Amendment gives Americans the six freedoms/clauses which are freedom from religion, freedom of religion, freedom from speech, freedom of press, freedom from assembly, and freedom of petition. Essentially, the First Amendment allows us to make our own decisions and what we think is right for ourselves in this country. The government cannot tell us what to do, as we can do what we want, but there is a line where we want to keep everyone safe and healthy. We can write and speak our opinions, as stated in the first amendment, but following the CDC guidelines will keep you and others out of trouble. Now, if there is not mask worn inside an establishment, the government has the right to put you in jail or fine that person a big amount of money. 

Looking at this, this goes back to the article that there is only so much time that people are going to follow the rules and want to get back to their lives from a year ago. Over the past year, citizens have followed the rules, but we all would like to have a life since life is so short. 

Along with the First Amendment, there are eight values of free expression which relates to different situations in the world. I believe number six- Promote Tolerance- connects to the pandemic because it states, " It has been argued that freedom of speech, especially through our  practice of extending protection to speech that we find hateful or personally upsetting, teaches us to become more tolerant in other aspects of life — and that a more tolerant society is a better society. Somewhat counter-intuitive, the First Amendment protects hate speech because society learns valuable lessons from, including why it is hateful and worthy of condemnation. It’s how we spread norms about acceptable behavior." 

The sixth value of free expression explains that from the First Amendment protecting hate speech about the pandemic, we learn about the normal behavior of everyday life and what will happen if we don't follow the rules of masks and social distancing. We get mad at the people who don't wear masks because we don't want to wear masks, but follow the rules as we learn from 'Promote Tolerance.' 

Overall, people are getting tired of the pandemic and all the rules placed in the world. We want to go back to normal lives and people will use their fundamental First Amendment rights to prove that they can say anything they want and do anything they want as long as they can get around the government, as the government can't control everything we do. The First Amendment gives us the right for freedom of speech, religion, and petition to an extent, along with the bed rock principles of not being able to condone hateful speech; however, there is also a line of where to stop with the speech we want to say or do. Speech/action dichotomy is not protected by the First Amendment which relating to the pandemic can hurt people in the end. 

Ultimately, we should follow the rules of social distancing and mask wearing along with being vaccinated, and the pandemic will be over soon. However, people will get to a point of too much government control and the First Amendment will not help our case in the end. 

Blog Post #2

 SCOTUS Article

By: Meagan Flynn 

March 31, 2021

SCOTUS History Article:

Personally, I do not like politics or anything about the government. I try not to pay attention as I was also brought up not allowed to talk about it to people. As I read this article, I learned that the Supreme Court is the highest court and can be above the other two branches, which includes the president, and that there were six justices in the beginning while making the first Supreme Court. I also learned that Chief Justice, Earl Warren, put in place "right to remain silent" for the police to say to someone being arrested. The most important take-away point about the Supreme Court is that the Supreme Court is one of the highest in government. They have power over the president and all court cases. They need focused, highly-classified justices for the Supreme Court in order for the best outcomes. There are ranges of topics in each court case which implies that the justices need to have experience and knowledge in each case topic. The Supreme Court is serious, focused, and much needed for the United States. 

I take away that if there was no Supreme Court with the nine intelligent court justices, many top cases would be unsolved for America. The Supreme Court still has to make new laws today from everything they learn in new cases. Still in 2020, they impeached another president. As the years go on, the Supreme Court never rests and there are old and new justices coming and going. One of the most surprising things I learned is that the Supreme Court has been around since the creation of the Constitution and they had big impacts in new laws and changes in America like segregation and voting for women and African Americans, for example. The article changed the way I thought of the Supreme Court by realizing that it is bigger than I thought. Supreme is in the name so I knew it was big and important, but as I was brought up slightly shadowed from the government, I had no idea of the parts of the government. After reading it, I understand better about the Supreme Court and the importance in the US it has. 

Unit 4: Value of Free Expression

Blog Post #3

By: Meagan Flynn

March 31, 2021

#4: Individual Self-Fulfillment

According to Google, freedom of expression "is a core value in the democratic process. It ensures people are able to discuss, exchange, and debate ideas. This human right allows individuals and communities to find information which is important to them and share it with others, without censorship or reprisals." With this definition, it relates to individual self-fulfillment by knowing that we can discuss and say what we believe in order to fulfill what we want in life. 

I feel number four of the eight values of free expression resonates with me the most. Personally, I do not like politics or conflict, but if I can stand up for what I believe in and what I think is right, then that it most important to me. The summary is "Free speech enables individuals to express themselves and thereby create their own identity — and, in the process perhaps, find kindred spirits. Freedom of speech thus becomes an aspect of human dignity, human agency and autonomy." I grew up learning that I should stand up for what's right and be who I am. This value of Free Expression just reminds me of what is most important in the world for a young woman like me. For young girls in the world, it is important to know that we can express ourselves create who we want to be in life. We need to learn to be our own person and not look at celebrities, or even just "popular" people in school. Models are horrible examples and we should not look at them for our self fulfillment. Personally, I have learned to not pay attention to a Kardashian or a model like Gigi Hadid. They have flaws, too, but also have the same rights as us. 

On the other hand, the Individual self-fulfillment reminds me of freedom of speech happening today with riots and protests. The Trump rally's along with the black lives matter. We should stand up for what's right, especially against the government who think they can tell us what to do. As long as the rally's are peaceful, people have permission to protest and fight what they want for their human dignity. Personally, when I think of standing up for my rights, I make known what is an issue and what should be changed. For example, there is still an issue of women's rights in the world. If a man is downgrading a woman, it is wrong and as a woman, we have free speech to express ourselves and have human dignity. I get really mad when a woman is put down and not given equal rights as a man does. When there is a real issue in the world to be changed, it is highly acceptable to make that change. 

Overall, individual self-fulfillment comes from our own thinking and beliefs with determination. We are influenced by what we hear and learn, especially from our upbringing. Family and friends have influence on our beliefs which shapes us to who we are. It is our personal choice to stand up for our beliefs and rights and shape ourselves to who we want to be. We have the right to think because of the First Amendment which gives us freedom and protected from the government. Relating to self-fulfillment, we have rights from the government, but before all that, Maslow's hierarchy of needs is important since self-fulfillment is at the top for humans. We have that need in life to fight for what we think is right and that is proof that the First amendment is there for a reason for the problems in the world, too. Ultimately, stand up for what's right and be who you are by the government not controlling you. 

Blog #1

Top 5 Sources of News Information

By: Meagan Flynn

March 22, 2021

Have you ever thought of your top news sources? Social Media? Newspaper? Just a local or national news station? There are more reliable outlets with specific news in order to view information a person is looking for. Personally, I never watch TV and I am always on my phone, so I look on social media for news these days. My father likes watching TV and grew up reading newspapers, so that is how he views news information. There are different sources for everyone, but below are my top 5 sources of news information:

 

Twitter has been available to anyone for 15 years. Celebrities, sports teams, politicians, and any ordinary citizen can "tweet" and send information to the world. I like to have notifications on my iPhone from twitter from my favorite celebrities and other people to hear news and what they have to say. Twitter is great for hearing specific, quick news which can be great for on the go. Personally, Twitter is not my favorite because there is a specific word count for tweets which can limit the information written, plus there are links to click on to take us to another news site which is time consuming; however, it is nice to just look down at the notification on my iPhone and read news information from a reliable account. 

Instagram is used for people to posts photos of anything they'd like for the world to see. I love Instagram because I can share pictures from my trips, school, home, and anything from my life. I can keep in touch with friends and see what their news is to share. Depending on who you follow, users will have the opportunity to find out news by seeing the picture and/or videos with the caption underneath. There are also notifications for easier access to news posts. I believe Instagram is more of a social outlet for friends to share news and not for politics or regular news stations. If people want to share their lives with pictures and/or videos, instagram is the news source for them. 

Facebook has been less popular over the years. There are older generations using this outlet these days. My parents are on Facebook daily. They give updates on their lives, wish people happy birthday, and like me, they see news ads. I only use Facebook to keep pictures in an album in one place and to see news. Everyday, I scroll to find out information in the world. When I am at school, I do not have cable to watch the news, so Facebook is how I find out news information. I specifically "like" reliable news outlets so that I can know how literal the information is. Many people of my generation do not like Facebook, but I find it helpful for present news information while there is not cable available. 

News stations, specifically the Today show and local news stations, always are on top of news. When I'm home, my mother always has the news on the TV as background noise. The local news station, 7 news, always gives news faster than any online media outlet. They'll cut into current programming to give news to the public. I find this the best news source if a viewer is looking for the fastest to find out information in the world. There are present updates, possibly from the actual scene and live updates, for the viewers. It is very reliable and we are aware it is truthful news. 

Lastly, Snapchat is a less reliable news source for politics, updates on the world, and more, but the site is working on updating this as soon as possible. I feel snapchat is great for personal updates and social life, but it is not great for a big variety of news. If you are looking to keep in touch with friends, Snapchat is perfect for you. I love it because I can see what my friends are up to while also getting in touch with people, but depending on subscriptions, I can view helpful life hints, funny memes, and anything relevant to my life and not much of the world itself.