Sunday, October 4, 2009

Controversial topic

For my political science class I must write a 3-4 page paper on a controversial topic concerning a constitutional amendment. When I finish the paper, I will condense it into a blog post or an article for our news paper. I will probably be posting things I find from my research too, so look out for it in the next couple weeks.

Before I can do any of this I must pick a topic, so does anyone have any ideas for a topic? Right now I'm thinking of Plaxico Burress and the Second Amendment or California and the Tenth Amendment (Marijuana). Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

5 comments:

  1. The second and the tenth would have been my suggestion. Doesn't the health care reform "individual mandate" (requirement to buy insurance on pain of a fine and possible prison sentence) potentially involve ten amendment issues? And how about Obama's proposed federal "distracted driving" law -- prohibiting texting and cell phone use while driving. Neither of these seem to be justifiable on the basis of the interstate commerce clause.

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  2. You could write on the 5th Amendment and the BS that is Eminent Domain. Here' s the most egregious abuse of the power, taken from Wikipedia:

    The Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) affirmed New London’s authority to take non-blighted private property by eminent domain, and then transfer it for a dollar a year to a private developer solely for the purpose of increasing municipal revenues. This 5-4 decision received heavy press coverage and inspired a public outcry that eminent domain powers were too broad.

    The redevelopment in New London, that was the subject of the Kelo decision, proved to be a failure and as of the summer of 2009 (over four years after the court's decision) nothing has been built on the taken land in spite of the expenditure of some $80 million in public funds.

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  3. What about the 16th amendment - income tax? BTW, i heard that 47% of americans won't be paying an income tax this year. Talk about a socialist nation we live in.

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  4. I would do Plaxico Burress. The guy got two years in prison....for carrying a gun. Donte Stallworth killed a guy, and he got 30 days. Only in America.

    Or go with what Barry said. The 17th amendment, very important, and often times goes unnoticed.

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