Freedom of the Press and XXX-Rated Movies

Should the people of Richardson be able to keep out stores like Zone d’Erotica, if they want to?

“Though the U.S. Supreme Court has held that Cities may regulate sexually oriented businesses but not totally prohibit them from operating within a city’s jurisdictional limits, we are not alone in the desire to make that decision at the local level. We will fight the Zone d’Erotica lawsuit in federal court and are pursuing opportunities to join other communities across the nation who share our desire for local control and regulation of sexually oriented businesses.” (Gary A. Slagel, Mayor of Richardson, in a April 20, 2007 letter to Richardson residents).

Establishment of Religion

Should the people of New York be able to require public students to pray this at the beginning of the school day?

“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.” Prayer from NY schools declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1962 (in Engel v. Vitale).

Judges

The qualities Senator Obama and Senator McCain are looking for in a federal judge

Justice Goldberg on the role of judges

Iraq War

Feith on Bush’s decision to stress democracy as the reason we went into Iraq

(This short piece makes a great follow-up to your work on the Mid-Term essay, if you are interested.)

Illegal Immigration

Should Farmers Branch make it illegal to rent houses or apartments to people in the country illegally?

Farmers Branch: does the Federal government have the power to pre-empt local laws?

(See also this article about a raid on a slaughterhouse in Iowa and the detention of people in the country illegally)

HPV Vaccine

Shoud Texas require girls to get the HPV vaccination?

Affirmative Action

Should employers show preference to minorities when hiring?

Money

Should the US government change its paper currency in order to make it easier for blind people to use?

Japanse Research on Stem cells

Embryonic stem cell research: no longer necessary?

More on this here and here

US Spending on Medical Care

Should the US government cut spending on medical care?

Smoking

Should the city of Richardson ban smoking in businesses?

For what the city council decided see here

McCain's Mistake

Would it be right to vote for someone who makes a mistake about Iran training Al Qaida in Iran, as Senator McCain did?

Pastor Wright

Would it be right to vote for Senator Obama, considering he attended Pastor Wright's church for 20 years?

ABC video on Jeremiah Wright

Another video from Obama’s church

Israel

Should Israel continue to exist as a Jewish state?

Hamas music video

2000 Election

Was President Bush "elected" by the Supreme Court in 2000?

(Picture of guy looking at a hanging chad

2000 election results by county

What were the results of the recount done after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict?)

Getting the US out of Iraq

Should the US get out of Iraq as soon as possible?

Gas Prices

Should we drill for oil in Colorado?

Weird Science

Should scientists be allowed to create human-animal embryos?

Diplomacy

Should the President of the US be willing to meet with the President of Iran?

(84% of the GOVT 2302.8245 class thought yes.)

Obama on Iran and more on Obama’s understanding of Iran

Marriage between Homosexuals

Should the people of California be able to prevent homosexuals from getting married?

(71% of the GOVT 2302.8245 class thought no.)

Iran and Nuclear Weapons

Should the world permit Iran to acquire nuclear weapons?

(80% of the GOVT 2302.8245 class thought no.)

The US and Israel

Is it right for the US to support Israel?

(89% of the GOVT 2302.8245 class thought yes.)

Digging Deeper

Are most illegal immigrants from Mexico?

Are there any well-known Shiite terrorist groups?

Iraq War

Was it right to go to war in Iraq?

(53% of the GOVT 2302.8245 class thought no.)

Health Insurance

Should the US government provide health insurance for all Americans?

(57% of the GOVT 8245 class thought yes.)

Death Penalty

Should Florida put a man to death for murdering his girlfriend?

Illegal Immigration

Should the US government detain and deport people who are in the US illegally?

(57% of the GOVT 2302.8245 class thought no.)

Waterboarding

As this article indicates, after WWII, the US punished a Japanese soldier for waterboarding an American civilian.

Assuming that the technique used is the same in both cases, is it wrong for the US to insist that it is acceptable to waterboard terrorists, but unacceptable for a Japanese soldier to waterboard an American civilian?

Surveillance without a Judge's Approval

Should the US government be able to listen to phone calls between a terrorist (or suspected terrorist) in another country and someone in this country in order to prevent terrorist attacks--without a judge's prior approval?

The Right to Vote

Should people have to show photo id in order to vote?

High Gas Prices

Do we need to start drilling for oil and building new oil refineries in the US?

What President Bush said about high gas prices.

(52% of the 2301.8009 class thought no.)
(75% of the 2301.8012 class thought yes.)