Contemplating Media & the First Amendment
The first amendment which is freedom of the press, freedom of speech, free to assemble, freedom of religion has afforded us a liberty without government control. Throughout history opinions have changed towards the constitution depending who is on the bench. After listening to the interview between Neal Katyal, former Acting Solicitor and the Aspen Institute;... Continue Reading →
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution protects people, specifically their bodies, property, papers, and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. It essentially outlines the notion of our right to privacy. The primary concerns of those who wrote and ratified the Amendment revolved around “general warrants,” or warrants that authorize a search or... Continue Reading →
In 2004 Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in his Harvard University dorm, with the goal of connected Harvard students. Fast forward to today—the platform has over 2 billion active users and is being confronted with the consequences it has for society, both good and bad. Last week Frontline aired a two-part documentary called The Facebook... Continue Reading →
It’s hard to unsee a lot of what President Trump publishes on social media, but it is a lot easier to recognize his blatant disregard for the First Amendment. While his First Amendment rights are similar to that of every other American citizen, using his governmental power to influence, threaten, or take away the First... Continue Reading →
To some, the term whistleblower is synonymous with leaker. The word leaker has a negative connotation is attached to it. However, a whistleblower should not have this undertone associated with it. It is not the take-out box from dinner that drips curry sauce, the unnecessary nuisance. A whistleblower is the rubber band wrapped around a... Continue Reading →
I want to start this out by saying that Pittsburgh is my second home. My grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins all live ten to fifteen minutes away from Pittsburgh. I’ve visited three times a year every year for over two decades and have for some summers lived in Pittsburgh. It is my favorite city... Continue Reading →
On October 26, The Republic of Ireland voted to remove an arcane law in the Constitution outlawing blasphemy. Specifically, they removed a section of Article 40.6.1, which ironically guarantees "the right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions," and then a few sentences later states, "The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or... Continue Reading →
In most landmark decisions, the opinion of the Court is written by the Chief Justice or most senior justice joining in the opinion. Because they are the cases that will studied for many years to come, justices want be the ones to pen the opinion and determine its language. It is through their written opinions... Continue Reading →
On Saturday, eleven people were murdered and four were injured in a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue. The shooter, Robert Bowers, was a frequent poster on the social media platform Gab, where he wrote virulent anti-semitic remarks and threatened to carry out acts of violence against Jewish people. This weekend’s mass shooting adds to the... Continue Reading →
What happens when the rights protected under the First Amendment conflict with national security efforts? This question is at the core of one of the most important First Amendment conflicts in the United States, the Pentagon Papers. The Pentagon Papers contained 7,000 pages of classified information from a secret study ordered by the Department of... Continue Reading →
Free Press Free Speech 