Blog #2

Supreme Court 

After watching the two-part video about the history and workings of the supreme court I was intrigued to read the article to find out more. Although I have been on a trip to see the supreme court I was too young to soak in all of the important information I could have learned. The article and video allowed me to see how crucial the supreme court is in maintaining our status as a free country. 

The supreme court holds the position as the highest level of court in the country and leads the judicial branch of the US government. There are only nine supreme court justices who serve their position as long as they choose to, until they pass away, or if they are impeached. Since this is the case it is very rare and has been compared to being struck by lightning to be chosen as a supreme court justice. A fun fact about a supreme court justice is that one of the standing justices, Samuel Alito, went to my high school. When I learned more about these justices in the video it made me think in further detail about how someone from my town got so far into their interest and even though it is very hard to become a justice, it is something that is honored and respected by many. 

The most surprising thing that I learned was how many cases are submitted to go to the supreme court that do not make it. They only hear on average 100 cases when there are thousands submitted. These cases do not get finalized in one day which was something I already knew but did not put into perspective how tiring taking all of the cases submitted would be. I do believe that sometimes it is unfair and that more cases should get a higher level of recognition but there is not enough time in the day. The most important takeaway I got was learning more about the actual process of the supreme court. During the trial hearings, there are lawyers on each side and each case ends with the justices voting on the case. I learned that only one justice writes the legal description of the voting. Then justices are given the opportunity to release personal opinions. Once all of this is done and there is a majority in their voting the results are posted. I previously did not know personal opinions were separated and published which was something I liked because it allows them all to share how they felt. 

Because the supreme court is the highest level of law it is important that it is respected and taken care of. Although there will never be a time that everyone agrees amongst one decision it is important that the purity of the supreme court stays intact so that the decisions they are coming to are still valued and respected by those who may not fully agree with the decision. The supreme court has shaped America and its history through many very popular cases and has helped generations and generations continuously respect their constitutional rights. By learning more about the supreme court I feel as if I better understand all of the cases I have heard about in the past and I feel it is important that all Americans learn more about how their rights are cared for. 

Blog #1

My 5 Sources of News and Information

 Believe it or not, there is news all over. When scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, when talking to professors, when watching tv, or even as slight as going to the grocery store. In this day in age, it's hard not to run into the current news all around you. 

One of the main news sources I get my information from is my dad. Although we are 500 miles apart from each other while I am at school he is the main source of information in my life. Since I am much older and more understanding of the world around me now I try to pay more attention. Because my dad has been a cop for over 20 years it has helped me see sides of information differently because when talking about local news, I get the first-hand story about these situations. This has helped me see how the reporters alter their information and what is realistic and what is not. Getting news from my dad has also been my easiest and quickest outlet. Anytime I hear something happens through word of mouth I go to my dad and see what he has to say about it. 

Another source that I get news from is Fox News. Although I rely greatly on my dad for news, since I can remember Fox was the first channel on when we would sit on the couch and watch tv. They have always published news that is easy to navigate and read so that has made it a top source for me. Their website has tabs to make it easy to navigate and find what you need. When I am looking for something specific it gets frustrating when I can not find it and this makes it easy to narrow down searches. Since I am older and more mature I have started forming my own opinions outside of some my parents have and Fox has given me an outlet to find that information and evaluate it.

The third source that I get my news from is Facebook. Although this social media platform is mostly used by the older generation I like it so I can connect with family and friends and I feel as if it is more realistic than Instagram is. On any given day I can scroll through Facebook and get an update about someone's recent birthday, a volunteer event in the area, or even sometimes about the most recent fatality. I find that getting news from a social media platform initially seems less reliable because of where you found it but when I see something I always double-check it by going to my other sources also. 

Another reliable way of getting news that I believe is new and will be a growing source is the News App on iPhones. Nearly half of Americans spend 5-6 hours on average on their iPhones a day which means the leading source of the news most likely comes from your iPhone. Having an app built in it makes it very easy to get news. This app outlines the top stories and gives headlines that make it easy to read. You can also follow news sources and listen to podcasts. This app gives a way for people of all types to get their news. I have also found it helpful because I get notifications when top stories get released to the app so I can at least read the headline in my notifications and then go back and read the entire article. 

Lastly, I find information from Google. Although Google is a search engine, there are tabs at the top that are news, images, video, etc which allow the topic I search to be narrowed down. If one of my other sources to find news did not have what I was looking for I would go to google and click the news tab and further investigate this way. Although it is not as reliable to me I still use this information and just read further into it. I think that this source helps the general population find more basic information easier.