The Founding Era

    Learning about the Supreme court has been fascinating for me, as my family is preparing to actually go to the North Carolina Supreme Court this coming February 2023. My father has been in a legal battle for six years against a large corporation, and the lawsuit will now be argued in the NC-SCOTUS.  I was not ever interested in the workings of the Supreme Court, but as my family’s lawsuit became more in-depth, the details of how the Supreme Court works became much more important to me.

    There were some details about the Supreme Court that I knew prior, but I did not know that “For more than 100 years after the foundation of the Supreme Court, the justices were required to hold circuit court twice a year in each judicial circuit.” That was a grueling task considering their modes of transportation those days were not exactly those of comfort. I also was unaware that the representing attorneys are only allowed 30 minutes per side to present their arguments. Since there are thousands of cases to be heard, it is understandable that a case is only allowed such a short period of time for argument.

    The most surprising thing I learned is in all of the two hundred years that the Supreme Court has been in existence, that with the basis of the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing separation between church and state, the Supreme Court’s decisions are based on information that can and will continue to affect our nation positively, but can also negatively affect our nation’s future. Depending on where one stands, Roe vs. Wade stands out in my mind as one of the biggest, most significant cases in the history of our nation. Being a Supreme Court judge is a massive responsibility and requires one to be of immense intelligence. My hat is off to those who sit in these incredible duty positions.

    The videos we were able to watch allowed us to see inside the Supreme Court’s workings. It was intriguing but yet understandable why they have more than one judge. Researching has shown that at one time, there were as few as six judges, but since 1869 there have been nine judges.  Another fact that I found intriguing is when a Missouri slave named Dred Scott worked to claim his freedom under an act of congress. Under a Chief Justice named Roger Brook Taney, the court ruled that congress had no power to ban slavery and that African Americans could never be citizens. This particular ruling weakened the court’s authority for years. The Civil War broke out, and the Dred Scott case was remembered as one of the biggest blunders of the court system. After the war, it worked out to where the Constitution was amended, slavery was abolished, voting rights were put in place, and citizenship was defined.

Privacy: Online & Off

    The Oxford dictionary states that “privacy is: the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people.” The videos that I experienced watching were all explanations of how true privacy is now nonexistent. Technology has become so advanced that personal information is no longer private and social media has become a playground for everyone’s private affairs to be public.

    It is factual that much of our private lives are now easily accessible to the community police. Catherine Crump, a lawyer for civil liberties, states in her Ted Talk how license plates are being read by monitors on buildings and on highways which now detail where individuals travel to and from and who they are traveling with. Innocent people are being tracked, and surveillance is becoming a daily way of life. Andy Yen’s video explains how phone calls and emails are being monitored by the government. Internet servers are not private and can easily be monitored and exploited. Companies are building devices to listen to our daily conversations, etc. It is as if we are living in a science fiction movie. Family and friends can no longer have private conversations, and when they do, the content is transferred to our social media options for marketing and sales. It is a very bizarre and exploited environment we are now living in. I am much more guarded about when and where I share personal information, and when I do discuss private topics with my family and friends, I am sure to remove any phones or technical devices from the room.

    The government could safeguard the public by giving out more information by ensuring that businesses must disclose all privacy procedures and hold them responsible by maintaining loyalty to their stated rules. There could be regulations put in place before an individual discloses their personal information. Compliance laws need to be written and documentation implemented for anyone who is required to share detailed private information.

Top 5 Sources of Information

 Apple News+

For me, this is the easiest accessible news source, and I'm sure many others because it can be delivered from through the source of a personal phone. It is beneficial as one can receive notifications on things of interest through a subscription-based service. One of the options that Apple News+ gives is that when you sign up to receive the news, you can choose topics on things such as Sports, Politics, World News, and other content. There is also an option to choose full issue content from hundreds of magazines and national and international newspapers available to read online or off. Apple News+ also offers subscribers the option of listening to narrated versions of various news articles under an audio tab released in 2020. Apple Inc released Apple News+ in 2015, which is relatively new and reaches millions of subscribers worldwide.

Instagram

I find the most varied sources of news available through Instagram. What is so unique about this option is that it allows you to personalize your feed by offering “follower options.”  There are colorful, eye-catching photos and videos, some with live sound and entertaining music. Instagram allows the viewer to scroll through various posts with the touch of one’s phone screen or computer mouse. The author of the posted news has the option to leave a brief statement of what is being posted or go into much detail and explanation.  It is as if you are reading and enjoying hundreds of magazines but without the bulk of carrying them around. There are thousands of accounts covering news, art, music, sports, politics, gardening, food, animals, medicine, computers, etc. You name it, Instagram covers it.

TikTok

TikTok is considered one of the most popular sources of entertainment and some news. With over 2 billion downloads worldwide, a host can post user-submitted videos ranging from 15 seconds to as long as 10 minutes. Literally, one can post about any topic known to man. I enjoy watching Tiktok but often find myself in a “Tiktok trance.” It is very easy to lose oneself by getting “sucked into” the entertainment of mindless videos. Frankly, it can be a massive waste of time if one isn’t careful. One using the TikTok option needs to be mindful of the fact that this news source is easily filtered, but it can also give you some information that fits your interests with an algorithm based on your likes and dislikes. I don’t usually see posts made by news stations, but rather podcasters talking about them. Typically they’re about movies or celebrities, but I do see information related to news in foreign countries.

Word of Mouth

Perhaps my most significant source of news, whether it be from family, friends, or colleagues, is word of mouth (WOM). I like this way of receiving information because I can converse with my source and learn more from it. The beauty of WOM is that it is an organic conversation that is based on a happening, an idea, or an event. The most important thing about WOM is that I can trust my resource. Since we are overwhelmed with constant advertising daily, WOM is usually from a reliable source and eliminates skepticism.  This information source mostly comes from my parents, and it doesn’t just have to be about the news but things going on in my family’s community and their jobs.

Fox News

Seemingly Fox News presents itself as an ideological network. I rarely watch cable news, but when I do, it is with my family. Since I was raised in a conservative home, my parents chose to watch Fox News as it seemingly represents itself with strong political opinions.  There are benefits to obtaining information from Fox news; there is a smaller chance of stories, but actual news with factual information.  You can view events live and get the most knowledge of what happened. For example, when President Trump’s Mar-a-Largo estate was being raided. If I were to need a news station for research, I would choose Fox News as the most trusted news source available.