Death Penalty

The system makes it seem like only the guilty will be executed, but in the end it’s the jury’s decision. If the jury believes they have enough evidence then they will execute the person, so there is still room for error and it’s very possible for the innocent to be prosecuted. At the end of the trial the jury makes a decision on, "whether the defendant’s guilt on the charges has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt." It goes on to say that in some states a judge can veto or overturn the jury’s decision. This goes to show how easy and possible it is to convict the wrong person. The rights of the accused are supposed to be protected my "innocent until proven guilty" and the article repeats multiple times that only the guilty is prosecuted. There is also a lot of time and ways to prove innocence.

After reading the methods of death for the death penalty, I believe that if the actions induce extreme pain to the person it should be considered to be cruel and unusual punishment.  All of the methods could fall under the 8^th amendment in my opinion. Some of the methods like hanging, or putting the executed in the electric chair results in extreme pain, especially if the person does not die right away. I think it is very important that the executed die right away and experience little pain. Even though they did evoke pain on others by killing them, they are dying right now so there is no reason to make their eyes pop, and break their bones. Lethal injection is the best if it is done right. If it’s done by someone inexperienced they can insert the needle wrong and the person would not die right away. I believe the person should die right away and not be in any pain if they want the death penalty to be supported by the 8^th amendment.

I believed that the crimes listed in the capital muder in illinois should be resulted in the death penalty solely because they are horrible crimes. With that being said I dont think death penalty is the best option in any case. I believe life in prison would be more effective, for the person accused and for the family of the victom. If the person found guilty of the crime is sentenced to death, the victoms family had to live with the burden of also killing someone elses son or father. That to me does not seem worth it. It seems better to have that person suffer and die in jail their entire life. Also the death penatly is bad because a lot of innocent people are accused of crimes they did not do. For them to be sent to death is completely unconstitutional

Drug Testing in Public Schools

In both the Acton and Earl cases, the majority ruled that drug testing was not an invasion of privacy because the student being tested is in their own stall privately with the monitor standing outside of the stall listening for the sound of regular pee. Both of the cases said things along the lines of the fact that consequences will only be taken for the activity the student participates in. There will not be consequences taken academically or consequences with the law. In the Earl case it states, "Nor do the test results here lead to imposition of discipline or have any academic consequences." The school is strictly bases the drug test on whether a kid can be a part of an athletic team or a school activity. The Acton cases state, "The results of the tests are disclosed only to a limited class of school personnel who have a need to know; and they are not turned over to law enforcement authorities or used for any internal disciplinary function." The school is now trying to keep the students privacy in their best interest, but isn’t that a bit of a contradiction? they are working to give the student the maximum privacy they can have, but the schools locker rooms have no privacy, "no individual dressing rooms are provided; shower heads are lined up along a wall, unseparated by any sort of partition or curtain; not even all the toilet stalls have doors." Why aren’t the students complaining about this? This is just as much of an invasion of privacy. Other students, teachers, or coaches can see others undressed an exposed. To me the most provocative part of all of this is what student pick and choose to become upset or to fight about. The students already have to "submit to various physical examinations, and to be vaccinated against various diseases." To be on a sport team, athletes are okay with going to the doctor to make sure they are eligible, why can’t a drug test be a part of their eligibility? There are already steps they have to take to be a part of a team that "invade" their privacy just as much as taking a drug test.