Gerrymandering

The process of re-drawing district lines to give an advantage to one party over another is called "gerrymandering".




By Christopher Ingraham

Christopher Ingraham

I chose this particular line of the article, because it defines gerrymandering in it's simplest terms. The definition may seem simple, but gerrymandering complicates our government on a drastic level. Gerrymandering usually occurs every ten years, after the Census is taken to update population counts in each of the states, the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts are then redrawn. The first concern is that it can cause disproportionate representation, because population determines the number of representative needed for that state. Also, people move around every day and migrate to different states all the time, so the statistics recorded are never really accurate. The districts are not always drawn equally or to make any sense. It has created a disadvantage because it allows one party to maintain control or have power over the other.. This is exactly the issue John Stuart Mill brings up in Civil Liberties. The majority overrules the minorities and the ugly truth is not all the decisions or practices incorporated by a majority is the right way to go. You cannot dismiss ideas without exactly hearing it. Gerrymandering can make it impossible for a party to carry out their ideas.  

Supreme Court - Loving v. Virginia

In 1958, two residents of Virginia, Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were married in the District of Columbia. The Lovings returned to Virginia shortly thereafter. The couple was then charged with violating the state's antimiscegenation statute, which banned inter-racial marriages. The Lovings were found guilty and sentenced to a year in jail (the trial judge agreed to suspend the sentence if the Lovings would leave Virginia and not return for 25 years).


"The Court also held that the Virginia law violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. “Under our Constitution," wrote Chief Justice Earl Warren, "the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State."

Since the establishment of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Courts have found a way to apply the Bill of Rights to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The Fourteenth Amendment states that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Although the Fourteenth Amendment ensures that certain rights are protected against state laws, the Supreme Court has also made clear that certain rights cannot be limited by a state law. In certain cases the court will selectively incorporate and make a decision on what the state can and cannot do by using the justification of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

I can agree with this process to a certain degree because there are some cases that has substantial effect on society and people are facing injustices that they should not face like Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving. No one should have to move from their homes to avoid going to prison because they are in a bi-racial relationship. The only troubling thing about the power of Judicial Review is that the law heavily rest on the opinions and interpretation of these judges. Nothing is set in stone when it comes to our judicial system, because it always changes with time and interpretation.

The law can be bias sometimes and depending on the case or the circumstances it does not always protect the rights of a citizen like in the case of Gonzales v. Raich (2005). Federal Government destroyed home grown marijuana that Raich needed for medical use, because it would affect interstate commerce. Raich felt that the ruling violated her 9th and 10th amendment, so to a certain degree Judicial Review protects citizens from injustices.

4/9 The Presidency

"The United States, as the world knows, will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war. This generation of Americans has already had enough -- more than enough -- of war and hate and oppression".
-President John F. Kennedy




President Kennedy in this particular part of his Inaugural Speech is reminding the public that the United States is tired of war. It is clear that at this point in time in history that American did not want war and had enough of war, hate and oppression. President Kennedy was also a war hero during WWII and knew first hand the detrimental effect war had on our country. I chose this quote because I think that is exactly how most Americans feel today. At this point in our lives we want to find better ways around economic, political and social problems. We do not want to start a war amongst each other or with our neighboring countries. The United States has a long history of fighting for equality and trying to build a strong society. Too many people have lost their lives for rights we take for granted now. There has to be a point when people must come together and come to common grounds. There has to be a point where people find solutions without taking drastic measures by treating others unjust or by creating new forms of oppression. I feel that we have more resources and have advanced to a higher level than our former leaders. I feel that we have what it takes to create a more civilized union and that we should stop pretending that the issue here has no solution. Our new president's approach is far from John F. Kennedy's approach. Needless to say, many people disagree on most of his plans for our country. I will not say his approach is always wrong, but it's not always in the best interest of the country when he allows his opinions to govern his decision. The fact is his opinion should not govern his leadership because the president represents an entire country and not just himself as an individual.

Democracy and Authoritarianism-Richard Wolin, “Our Prophet of Deceit,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, (Oct. 2016)

"By depicting the current situation in the blackest of all possible terms, the agitator heightens the despair of his listeners to the point where they are putty in his hands".


- Richard Wolin, “Our Prophet of Deceit,”


This particular quote describes the first step an authoritarian takes when he/she is trying to gain the trust of the people he/she can easily influence.


I chose this quote, because I believed it is definitely something America witnessed during the presidency campaign in 2016. Many people were skeptical about the election and felt that both Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton were not very good candidates to choose from, many people felt that there was no way a woman can run the country and many people felt that Trump would be good for the economical crisis America was facing. All politicians try to influence their constituents during any election, but the approach Donald Trump takes really depicts the characteristics of a dictator. He makes it seem as though the solution to all America's problem is immigration. The economy is doing poor, schools are not properly funded, street violence, homelessness, infrastructure is all blamed on immigration. After the attack of the twin towers, it definitely makes the topic easier to target during an election. People are still afraid and still believe that immigration is the underlying issue of their post traumatic stress disorder. Terrorism is typically tied to foreigners, although an American is also equally capable of being a terrorist. Trump can speak about many different issues America is facing and promise to make America great again but his solution is vague.... He is the solution. Trump wants to govern and take away political freedoms that America has fundamentally built in society to make us function as a democracy. Our current situation will always seems really bad, but there are other countries that are really suffering in other ways because it's citizens allowed an authoritarian leader to take over. Russia and Cuba are two great examples, because there are people that fear defending legitimate rights, individualism and are stuck in a systematic government that constantly violates people’s privacy. If America falls victim to Trump or for that matter any leader that feels that excluding people or categories people is a recipe for disaster. American's forget history and the 13 colonies were established to escape tyranny... Why allow history to repeat itself?