In the movie "Clear and Present Danger" is a movie about a secret coalition being sent into Columbia illegally. A close friend of the President and his family are murdered aboard their yacht in the Caribbean, setting off a chain of events that leads Jack Ryan, Deputy Director of the CIA., ...

SEPARATION OF POWERS Over two hundred years ago our Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia, PA to rewrite the constitution. In rewriting the Constitution there was one change that they wanted to make above all. That was within this new government there would be a Separation of Pow...

FDR's Running for a third term When you first start thinking about Franklin Delano Roosevelt you might think of the New Deal, fireside chats, or possibly the United States role in World War II. Throughout Roosevelt's Rein as president, he has had to make many decisions possible more than any ...

By the mid-20th century, racial tensions had escalated and demonstrations swelled for voting rights and school integration. Beginning with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 lead by Reverend Martin Luther King, conflicts between the Civil Rights movement and those who would fight to maintain "the...

The Separation of Church and State in America Church and State seem to be two words which are entirely inseparable from each other. Religion in politics and the government has been present since the federal government was first put into place. The issue of religion is present in such varied top...

The Separation of Church and State in America Church and State seem to be two words which are entirely inseparable from each other. Religion in politics and the government has been present since the federal government was first put into place. The issue of religion is present in such varied top...

The Pledge of Allegiance is spoken daily in many schools throughout the United States. During the last several years this fact has become a source of contempt for many parents, who do not promote a particular religious belief in their homes. Reciting wording specific to a particular set of religio...

Cruel and unusual punishment is the term used to describe criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it causes on the person. Cruel and unusual punishment has a very long history and is now noted in the constitution. There are several cases that deal wit...

INTRODUCTION It is tempting to believe that a lot has changed since the Rodney King case. In that highly televised case, police in Los Angeles stopped Mr. King after a high-speed car chase on March 3, 1991. In that case, the chase did not cause the problem; the actions of the officers, t...

James Madison once said, "A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives. A popular government without the means of acquiring information is a prologue to a tragedy." It is because I agree with Madison that I stand in strong affirmation ...

Religion in Public Schools The question "Should prayer be allowed in public schools" is one of the biggest debates in the minds and lips of Americans today. The open practice of religion in publicly funded schools is not a new debate, nor a simple one. Americans have been fighting ab...

We the People... In his Federalist Paper #51, James Madison said, "If all men were angels, no government would be necessary." However, all men are not angels; therefore, some form of government is needed to maintain order, protect the rights of the minority, express the wishes of the ma...

Free Speech VS. Hate Speech Most Americans would like to think that the United States is a place open to diversity with room for everyone. The fact is, hate is a huge block to this vision, and the atrocities of Mathew Shepard and James Byrd grow by the day increasing the search for a remedy. We...

Gun control is a very controversial, complicated, and delicate subject, because it affects a large amount of people in our society, and is full of moral and legal arguments which all must be heard. There are two really strong positions on gun control, pro and con. But views on gun control aren¡t...

Electoral College Recent events have shown a need for change in a certain part of the United States' society; the Electoral College. "Decision 2000", as it was rightfully called, was the 2000 Presidental election mainly between George W. Bush and Al Gore. The reason the Electoral College need...

The Duality of Reality "This is a man's world" screams out James Brown over the airways amidst the political turmoil of the 1960's. He croons about the disproportionate responsibilities and opportunities between men and women. In the sixties, as well as recently, women have fought ...

The United States Constitution gives very specific powers to congress. These powers are very limited and are each enumerated in the text of the Constitution. One of the powers is "[t]o regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes" (Ar...

The Federalist Papers were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay in order to garner support for the soon to be Constitution of the United States. In 65, Hamilton discusses the powers of the senate in relation to the impeachment process. The Senate is designated as "suffici...

Government, one of the most important factors in our life, is very complicated. After I have studied the American government, I find out that the American government is the most perfect and democratic government in the world. The government is doing their jobs in the best interest of people, to pr...

For more than 200 years the American Constitution has served as much more than a framework of government. Our belief in the great document's guarantees of freedom, justice, and equality has come to define what it means to be an American. From 1787 to today, in times of both tragedy and triumph, Amer...

Everson v the Board of Education Introduction There is a distinct separation in the Constitution between government and religion, and in the case of Everson v the Board of Education, there are many examples as to why this type of separation is important. When individuals pay taxes, it is up to th...

A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, assembly, the right to vote, freedom from involuntary servitude, and the right to equality in public places. Discriminati...

We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal." Thomas Jefferson wrote these immortal words in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. One has the right to impose the question "Are we truly equal?" simply by taking a look at American society. Presently, the United ...

Is executing the mentally retarded Unconstitutional? Is sentencing execution upon a mentally retarded individual unconstitutional? This is a question that has recently been answered by the United States Supreme Court. According to Justice John Paul Stevens executing the mentally retarded is unc...

Gay Rights The ratio in America between homosexual and heterosexual people has grown emessly since the late 1970's. The ratio used to be 2 out of every 20 people its, now 7 out of every 20 people. Gays in America have been miss treated for along time until they had there own rights pas...