Abby Weiss

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America's Constitutional Democracy and its Dependance on the First Amendment

America's Constitutional Democracy and its Dependance on the First Amendment On June 21, 1788 the United States Constitution was ratified, this created the official framework for the workings of our government. The Constitution provided a means of national law. It set boundaries and guidelines to which the entirety of the country would proceed to follow. Over time, the Constitution has been revised and edited 27 times to better suit the needs of the people within the United States of America. The first revision to the Constitution has fostered grounds for America to carry out democracy in its truest form. The First Constitutional Amendment ignited the ability to speak freely, in addition to granting the people freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and the rights to peaceably assemble as well as petition the government when applicable. The basis of a democracy stands on individuals and laws elected by citizens within t...

EOTO Recap - California Reagents v Bakke

California Reagents v Bakke Mock Trial Recap In class we had the opportunity to go through the motions of the California Reagents v. Bakke trial. This was a very prominent case, signifying whether affirmative action and minority quotas were Constitutional and would be permitted to continue on within schools and corporations. The case began when Allan Bakke; veteran, NASA intern, and med-school applicant, was denied twice from University of California at Davis. Bakke reportedly had stand out MCAT scores, a high GPA, and decent interviews and was well rounded between the participation in the U.S. Military as well as NASA. The side of Bakke deemed racial quotas unconstitutional. They said that affirmative action makes it unfair for students who do not fit the certain group standards to be admitted. Based upon solely numerical values such as grades and GPA, Bakke was more than qualified to be admitted to the medical school. Due to...

EOTO - The Fair Housing Act of 1968

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 Prior to The Fair Housing Act of 1968, African Americans, in addition to many other minority groups, were being denied basic housing rights. These denials resulted in difficulty finding housing in decent, let alone desirable locations. Minority groups struggled when it came to buying and renting homes. Landlords and sellers would raise prices, set different terms of agreement, use different qualification criteria, or simply refuse to allow these people to live in the available houses due to things such as race, sex, or religion. Prior to the passing of The Fair Housing Act of 1968, two previous versions of this law were rejected by Congress. The rejection of the two prior versions lead people to believe that a third try at passing the law would be an incredibly long shot. After the assignation of MLK things really took a turn. On April 11, 1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968...

EOTO Recap - Brown vs. Board

EOTO Recap While the Brown vs Board of Education case was going through trial, there was many other significant events happening throughout the United States. Some of these events were incredible and made strides to create equality among the races, other events took us back a multitude of steps and are very low points in our history. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a major event during the Civil Rights Era. It consisted of African Americans simply refusing to use public transport such as busses. This sparked with the Rosa Parks incident. This bus boycott went on from December 5, 1955 to December 20, 1956; over a full year of boycotting this form of public transportation. Activists met after Rosa Parks was arrested and decided that this would be the simple but productive stance they would take on the issue. Another significant movement that went on was the March on Washington . This was a...

Brown vs. Board of Education

Brown vs. Board of Education Brown vs The Board of Education was a turning point in the history of America, breaking the precedent set by Plessy vs. Ferguson . Signifying a shimmer of hope for true equality in the eyes of so many African Americans. In an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the case and the impact it had on America, the class will go through the process of a mock trial; imitating the parts of this trial and arguing either on the side of Brown or The Board of Education. My team and I were assigned to take the angle of The Board. While there is no logical argument to take in order to support segregation in schools, we had to take ourselves out of this current time period and our own opinions, and travel back to pro-segregation 1954 America. My personal argument is focused on a pathos approach, making a point based upon an emotional platform. For the past 77 years, black and ...

Plessy vs. Ferguson - What I Learned

Plessy vs. Ferguson - Learning From A Mock Trial Case Plessy versus Ferguson was a landmark case, changing practices and viewpoints regarding racial segregation all across the United States in the year 1896. The decision regarding the case allowed for racial segregation to continue across America, depleting the progressive rights and opportunities for African Americans. This decision further pushed distinction between public amenities for blacks and whites. The case initiated when Homer Plessy, a man having just 1/8 African American in his blood, rode on a train car that was for white people only. Plessy was very fair skinned, and often "passed" as white. Plessy purchased a first class train ticket from the station and boarded the "White's Only" car. Plessy was arrested when he refused to move to the "African American" train car. He was charged under the Separate Car Act , and his case eventually made way to the U.S Supreme ...