Bellringer 2/28

I believe if you've commited murder than you deserve to be in jail. I don't think that it's fair that she's having a retrial. She should still be in jail. She shouldn't be in the italian criminal justice system. She should be released into the american court system.

Bellringer 3/27

I don't care who says it should be man and woman, you should be able to marry whoever you want.

Bellringer 3/13

The US Constitution is very important. It was signed by the founding father in 1787. It gives us freedom and out rights. It is very important and we should be thankful for it.

Assignment 3/11

Being on a jury during a court cases is part of being a US Citizen. You are sworn in and have to deicide the veridct. We have tthe federal court and state court. A federal court is bigger than what a state court is. The federal court deals with bigger issues than the state. The federal court deals more with civil issues and the state keeps it small such as a  traffic citation.

A juror is to listen to cases, and read a lot of evidence. They have to come together to reach the verdict. If they don't reach it, they are a hung jury. The jury then goes back to the court and the Judge will speak for them. It isn't an easy job and they have to pay close attention to everything.


I wouldn't want to be a juror, just because I can't make decisions that rely on what other people do. I guess I could if I had all the evidence and everything was explained well. I couldn't be on a jury that had to decide something about gay rights, privacy, gun rights, murders, rape... just because I'd get to mad and probably throw a fit right there in the middle of it all. I couldn't handle it. I'd have my own opinion and I couldn't agree with anyone else or listen to what anyone has to say.

Bellringer 3/11

I don't think that it's fair that you can take a knife on an airplane, but you can't take toothpaste or shampoo or anything like that. I don't think that shampoo can stab anyone, kill anyone, or put them in any harm... unless they have a huge allergic reaction or something. Like that ever happens. I can't believe that they let this pass. Why would someone need a knife on an airplane?

Assignment 3/7

flilibuster- a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches
cloture- procedure for ending a debate and taking a vote


The word filibuster comes from the term filibusteros, which is a term used to describe pirates that plundered in the seventeenth century. Filibuster became synonymous in the US with rebels and it was a prefect term to descirbe a technique used by rebellious senators looking for ways to hold up legislation. Filibusters also give a tremendous amount of power to individual Senators. Senators have used the filibuster, or the threat to filibuster in order to maximize their leverage with the President or other Senators. Filibuster has become much more common in the recent years. Roughly two-theirds of all filibusters in the Senat'e history have taken place in the last thirty years. They were used to stop civil rights legislation from passing in the 50s and 60s. Filibusters have been employed to stall bills of all types. A filibuster can be stopped when the Senate invokes cloture. There are many steps to invoke cloture.


Did you know that Rand Paul had the 9th longest filibuster?
Did you know that the longest filibuster was 24 hours and 18 minuts long?
Did you know that Storm Thurmond held the longest filibuster record?
Did you know that the Senate Democrats failed to get enough votes to stop a filibuster?
Did you know that the cloture is can overcome a filibuster?

Bellringer 3/7

Rand Paul spent 13 hours on the Senate floor yesterday. He was talking against John Brennan of the CIA. He spent so long talking to get his point across. Nobody knew about what John Brennan was saying until Rand Paul spent that long trying to get his point across. He found what Brennan answered to a question very disturbing.

Rand Paul knew that storm was coming, so he hashtagged on twitter #filiblizzard... according to the filibuster. He just wants to know if the government believes that there should be an attack against American citizens on US soil.

Bellringer 3/5

If the South Korea begins working with the US to stop the North Korea's nuclear tests, then North Korea is going to end their treaty with South Korea. North Korea is becoming an enemy to the US. None of this is good news.

Bellringer 3/4

I think they need to figure out a new solution for taxes. I think it's only fair for the rich to pay more than the average middle class American. It's ridiculous that when we make money, almost half of it goes out for taxes. They need to figure something else out.
Obama needs another plan. We're so far in debt and they need to cut things that don't really matter and that just take money away. Hopefully something will happen soon.

Bellringer 3/1

I'm pretty sure that Dennis Rodman did that for attention. He sat down by two men and told them that they were going to be life long friends. Usually people don't do that. They'll at least have a conversation.