Politics Essays
The Abortion Debate
The Abortion Debate Many have pondered upon the meaning of abortion. The argument being that every child born should be wanted, and others who believe that every child conceived should be born (Sass vii). This has been a controversial topic for years. Many people want to be able to decide the destiny of others. Everyone in the United States is covered under the United States constitution, and under the 14th Amendment women have been given the choice of abortion. In 1973, Ha...
Abortion Debate - Pro-Life Stance
Abortion Debate - Pro-Life Stance In Roman times, abortion and the destruction of unwanted children was permissible, but as out civilization has aged, it seems that such acts were no longer acceptable by rational human beings, so that in 1948, Canada along with most other nations in the world signed a declaration of the United Nations promising every human being the right to life. The World Medical Association meeting in Geneve at the same time, stated that the utmost respec...
Case for Legalizing Marijuana
Case for Legalizing Marijuana What Is Marijuana? Marijuana, a drug obtained from dried and crumpled parts of the ubiquitous hemp plant Canabis sativa (or Cannabis indica). Smoked by rolling in tobacco paper or placing in a pipe. It is also otherwise consumed worldwide by an estimated 200,000,000 persons for pleasure, an escape from reality, or relaxation. Marijuana is known by a variety of names such as kif (Morocco), dagga (South Africa), and bhang (India). Common in t...
Facts About Marijuana
Facts About Marijuana Marijuana originated in the middle east (Taiwan, Korea). China plays an important part in Marijuana's history. Hoatho, the first chinese physician to use Cannabis for medical purposes as a painkiller and anesthetic for surgery. In the Ninth Century B.C., it was used as an incense by the Assyrians Herbal, a Chinese book of medicine from the second Century B.C., was first to describe it in print. It was used as an anesthetic 5,000 years ago in ancient chi...
History and Uses of Marijuana
History and Uses of Marijuana Whether you call it Hemp, Mary Jane, Pot, Weed; it doesn't matter. It is still Cannabis Sativa, or cannabis for short. And it is still illegal. The use of marijuana as an intoxicant in the United States became a problem of public concern in the 1930s. Regulatory laws were passed in 1937, and criminal penalties were instituted for possession and sale of the drug. "Marijuana" refers to the dried leaves and flowers of the cannabis plant, which cont...
Should Drugs Be Legalized?
Should Drugs Be Legalized? For several decades drugs have been one of the major problems of society. There have been escalating costs spent on the war against drugs and countless dollars spent on rehabilitation, but the problem still exists. Not only has the drug problem increased but drug related problems are on the rise. Drug abuse is a killer in our country. Some are born addicts(crack babies), while others become users. The result of drug abuse is thousands of ...
Dangers of Anabolic Steroids
Dangers of Anabolic Steroids In the past three decades, steroids has been becoming a serious problem more than ever in the athletic field. Steroids are anabolic drug "to build" growth hormones that include the androgens (male sex hormones) principally testosterone and estrogen and progestogens (female sex hormones). Steroids were first developed for medical purposes. They're used in controlling inflammation, strengthening weakened hearts, preventing conception, and alleviati...
Argument Against Euthanasia
Argument Against Euthanasia A considerable size of society is in favor of Euthanasia mostly because they feel that as a democratic country, we as free individuals, have the right to decide for ourselves whether or not it is our right to determine when to terminate someone's life. The stronger and more widely held opinion is against Euthanasia primarily because society feels that it is god's task to determine when one of his creations time has come, and we as human beings are...
Case Study: Nollan v. CCC
Case Study: Nollan v. CCC Abstract of: 483 U.S. 825, 97 L. Ed.2d 677 James Patrick Nollan, et ux., Appellant v. California Coastal Commission. Case Definition: The case is Nollan versus the California Coastal Commission. The Nollans were the appellates against a decision made by the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The Nollans had been leasing a property on the California coast with which they had an option to buy. The property lies directly at the foot of th...
Battered Women's Syndrome
Battered Women's Syndrome In 1991, Governor William Weld modified parole regulations and permitted women to seek commutation if they could present evidence indicating they suffered from battered women's syndrome. A short while later, the Governor, citing spousal abuse as his impetus, released seven women convicted of killing their husbands, and the Great and General Court of Massachusetts enacted Mass. Gen. L. ch. 233 � 23E (1993), which permits the introduction of evidence of...
A 'Moment of Silence' in Schools
A 'Moment of Silence' in Schools In 1962 the Supreme Court decided that public schools did not have the power to authorize school prayer. This decision made public school in the U.S. more atheistic than many European nations. For example, crosses still hang on the classroom walls in Poland, and the Ten Commandments are displayed in Hungary. There are prayers held at the beginning of legislative and judicial sessions and every President has mentioned a divine power in his in...
Government Sponsoring Religion
Government Sponsoring Religion It is unconstitutional for local, state or federal governments to favor one religion over another? Government can show favoritism toward religion by displaying religious symbols in public places at taxpayer expense, by sponsoring events like Christmas concerts, caroling, or by supporting the teaching of religious ideas. It appears the United States government has had a history of favoring Christianity. The United States government's ...
Flaws of the Death Penalty
Flaws of the Death Penalty Capital Punishment has been part of the criminal justice system since the earliest of times. The Babylonian Hammurabi Code(ca. 1700 B.C.) decreed death for crimes as minor as the fraudulent sale of beer(Flanders 3). Egyptians could be put to death for disclosing the location of sacred burial sites(Flanders 3). However, in recent times opponents have shown the death penalty to be racist, barbaric, and in violation with the United States Constitutio...
Repealing the Rent Control Act
Repealing the Rent Control Act In a just society, the ruling authority must decide what is right when allocating wealth to its individual citizens. The same ruling authority does this by intervening with the inner workings of a marketplace to uphold its fundamental values and ideals. The aim of government intervention is to create a just society that will reflect the people�s values. Governing bodies do this by establishing laws that enforce fairness or �equity�. The Ontari...
Computer Crime
Computer Crime It's the weekend, you have nothing to do so you decide to play around on your computer. You turn it on and then start up, you start calling people with your modem, connecting to another world, with people just like you at a button press away. This is all fine but what happens when you start getting into other peoples computer files. Then it becomes a crime, but what is a computer crime really, obviously it involves the use of a computer but what are these crimes...
Legality of Same-Sex Marriages
Legality of Same-Sex Marriages The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. Presently, it is one of the most vigorously advocated reforms discussed in law reviews, one of the most explosive political questions facing lawmakers, and one of the most provocative issues emerging before American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, it could be one of the most revolutionary policy decisions in the ...
Software Licensing and Piracy
Software Licensing and Piracy In 1993 worldwide illegal copying of domestic and international software cost $12.5 billion to the software industry, with a loss of $2.2 billion in the United States alone. Estimates show that over 40 percent of U.S. software company revenues are generated overseas, yet nearly 85 percent of the software industry's piracy losses occurred outside of the United States borders. The Software Publishers Association indicated that approximately 35 pe...
Violence Against Women Act
Violence Against Women Act The Violence Against Women Act creates a right to be "free from crimes of violence" that are gender motivated. It also gives a private civil right of action to the victims of these crimes. The Senate report attached to the act states that "Gender based crimes and fear of gender based crimes...reduces employment opportunities and consumer spending affecting interstate commerce." Sara Benenson has been abused by her husband, Andrew Benenso...
Brief Look at Euthanasia
Brief Look at Euthanasia Euthanasia is one of the most acute and uncomfortable contemporary problems in medical ethics. Is Euthanasia Ethical? The case for euthanasia rests on one main fundamental moral principle: mercy. It is not a new issue; euthanasia has been discussed-and practised-in both Eastern and Western cultures from the earliest historical times to the present. But because of medicine's new technological capacities to extend life, the problem is much mo...
Reasons for Juvenile Crime
Reasons for Juvenile Crime One of the biggest problems which the United States is faced with is juvenile crime. The reason experts feel juvenile�s commit crimes is because of risk factors when they were younger but experts still have not found the main reason why juvenile�s commit crimes. Some risk factors associated with juvenile crime are poverty, repeated exposure to violence, drugs, easy access to firearms, unstable family life and family violence, delinquent peer group...
Drugs Should Not be Legalized
Drugs Should Not be Legalized The question of whether to legalize drugs or not is a very controversial and important issue. Drugs affect so many areas of society. "The U.S. population has an extremely high rate of alcohol and drug abuse" (Grolier). Several groups have formed and spoken out regarding their position. "Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization is the first step in helping to deliver the credible, consistent message about the risks and costs of the legalization of ...
Freedom in the United States
Freedom in the United States No other democratic society in the world permits personal freedoms to the degree of the United States of America. Within the last sixty years, American courts, especially the Supreme Court, have developed a set of legal doctrines that thoroughly protect all forms of the freedom of expression. When it comes to evaluating the degree to which we take advantage of the opportunity to express our opinions, some members of society may be guilty of vi...
Morality of Euthanasia
Morality of Euthanasia "The third night that I roomed with Jack in our tiny double room, in the solid-tumor ward of the cancer clinic of the National Institute of Health in Maryland, a terrible thought occurred to me. Jack had a melanoma in his belly, a malignant solid tumor that the doctors guessed was the size of a softball. The doctors planned to remove the tumor, but they knew Jack would soon die. The cancer had now spread out of control. Jack, about 28, was in constant pai...
Monetary and Fiscal Policy
Monetary and Fiscal Policy The Monetary and Fiscal Policies, although controlled by two different organizations, are the ways that our economy is kept under control. Both policies have their strengths and weaknesses, some situations favoring use of both policies, but most of the time, only one is necessary. The monetary policy is the act of regulating the money supply by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, currently headed by Alan Greenspan. One of the main res...
Modern Economic Theories
Modern Economic Theories Two controversial economic policies are Keynesian economics and Supply Side economics. They represent opposite sides of the economic policy spectrum and were introduced at opposite ends of the 20th century, yet still are the most famous for their effects on the economy of the United States when they were used. The founder of Keynesian economic theory was John Maynard Keynes. He made many great accomplishments during his time and probably ...