Discussion 1
All the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights are important to me. However, the First Amendment is the most crucial because it affects multiple areas of one’s life. It guards the freedom of religion and speech, and the press. It also guarantees the right to petition the government and conduct peaceful protests. Freedom of speech allows Americans to express their thoughts and feelings without fear of victimization or government interference (Magliocca, 2017). However, the United States Supreme Court struggles to define which speech types deserve such protection and so various parties take advantage and harm others through their words. Harmful use of freedom of speech may include insulting or threatening fellow citizens, especially minority groups such as the LGBTQ community and African Americans.
Freedom of the press enables people’s expression through various publication means. This section allows media houses to inform the public on the government actions or omissions without fear of intimidation. Americans with important information to share with the rest of the nation can use the media to broadcast so long as they adhere to the limitations. They should not use the press to express defamatory or false information because it violates the requirements. Through the First Amendment, American citizens can engage in any religion of their choice (Berkin, 2015). People can freely worship in Mosques, and Catholic and Protestant Churches, among other worship grounds, whenever they need to. It forbids the government from favoring certain religions over others or establishing a single one for the state. As citizens exercise their right to protest the government, they can also file lawsuits against it or sign petitions regarding significant matters. This section of the Bill of Rights further protects one’s right to join, gather or assemble people for religious, political, social, or economic reasons. Therefore, people can speak and protests when they feel oppressed.
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Discussion 2
The search of Tom and his backpack was constitutional and unconstitutional, respectively. Searching Tom was constitutional because it occurred after the officer discovered the warrant for arrest and had to do a weapons frisk when arresting him. On the other hand, searching Tom’s backpack was unconstitutional because the officer did not have a warrant that allows such checking. The officer should have upheld the Fourth Amendment by arresting the suspect based on the felony arrest warrant for burglary in Baltimore, MD, and acquiring a warrant to search his property if he had suspicions about the contents of the backpack (Galiano, 2011). However, the police officer did not go against the Fourth Amendment entirely since it has an exclusionary rule regarding evidence that law enforcement personnel derive from a warrantless search.
According to the exclusionary rule, the charge against Tom for illegal narcotics possession can stand. The evidence can be admissible in court if there were any of the six exceptions to the warrant requirement. The first exception allows an officer to search a person when conducting a lawful arrest, and so asking Tom to empty his pockets and wallet is covered. The second exclusion covers the officer’s decision to frisk Tom because he had a previous criminal activity record. The third and fourth allowances are not applicable in this case because there was no plain view or consent (Ross, 2020). The risk of evidence destruction under the fifth exception could justify the search of the backpack. However, there was no pursuit or indication of such risk that could render the narcotics’ evidence inadmissible in court. Without the involvement of a car, the automobile exception is invalid in Tom’s situation. If the prosecution could link Tom’s offense warrant for his arrest and narcotics possession, the evidence could be valid.
References
Berkin, C. (2015). The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America’s Liberties . Simon and Schuster.
Galiano, D. (2011). The Fourth Amendment: Unreasonable search and seizure . New York: Rosen Central.
Magliocca, G. N. (2017). The heart of the constitution: How the Bill of Rights became the Bill of Rights . New York: Oxford University Press.
Ross, J. (2020). A Feminist Critique of Police Stops. Cambridge University Press.
