Can Your Phone Testify Against You?

“David Ridley was pulled over by San Diego police in 2009 because his car registration had expired. During the traffic stop, police found two loaded guns and on examining his smartphone discovered text messages and videos they associated with a local gang. The police arrested Riley and seized his phone”(14).  Later in the case it was discovered that the police found another set of text messages that let Ridley to be convicted of attempted murder. The police found messages that linked to a shooting that thus solved the case and Ridley being the murder.  Ridley was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.

The Supreme Court unanimously favored Ridley’s case and ruled against the police. The court was able to rule against the police because of our fourth amendment right for the right to privacy. Without a warrant or Ridley’s permission, the court ruled that it was against his right to privacy for them to seize and search his phone.

This was a landmark case because, “the ruling, which was applauded by privacy advocates, is the latest example of how the courts are trying to apply the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution to life in the 21st century”(14). When the founding fathers originally wrote the fourth amendment, they intended it to be towards British soldiers and that they were not allowed to entire someone’s home without being authorized first. However, when soldiers were entering homes, they were in search for private documents, which can now be found on someone’s phone. Chief Justice Roberts stated, “The fact that technology now allows an individual to carry such information in his hand does not make the information any less worthy of the protection for which the Founders fought.”(15)

The Ridley Vs. California case was a case that highlighted our fourth amendment right and gave justice to David Ridley by allowing him is right to privacy, whether the right was intended to be for a home or a cell phone.

Two New York Police Officers Shot Dead

"Two New York City Police Officers Killed (Dec. 20): On Saturday afternoon, in Brooklyn, Ismaaiyl Brinsley walks up to the passenger window of a police car and shoots Officer Wenjian Liu and Officer Rafael Ramos in the head. Brinsley then runs into a nearby subway station and shoots himself. Before the incident, Brinsley vows through online posts to put "wings on pigs," in response to the recent killings of unarmed black men by white police officers. (Dec. 21): The death of the two officers only increases the tension of an already strained relationship between Mayor de Blasio and New York City police unions. Hours after Liu and Ramos are killed, Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch speaks to reporters outside the hospital where the two officers died. Lynch says, "There's blood on many hands tonight. Those that incited violence on the streets under the guise of protest that tried to tear down what New York City police officers did every day. We tried to warn it must not go on, it cannot be tolerated. That blood on the hands starts at City Hall in the office of the mayor." Officers turn their backs on de Blasio when he visits the hospital. (Dec. 26): A plane flies over New York City carrying this banner behind it: "De Blasio, Our Backs Have Turned to You." Former NYPD officer John Cardillo tweets a picture of the plane and writes that a group of retired and current officers paid for the banner. (Dec. 27): When Mayor de Blasio speaks at the funeral of Officer Ramos, officers can be seen outside the church turning their backs to the large screen broadcasting the service." 
The issue at hand here is both that the two officers were shot in rebalance to the black man that was shot by an officer, and that the Mayor of new york is not in support with the police department.I disagree with the actions of Ismaaiyl Brinsley and also with the actions of the Mayor. I do not think that the officers should have been shot for another's actions and I do not think that the Mayor should publicly go against the entire NYPD on such a controversial issue. The police department protects the city and all within it and whether the Mayor agrees with the incidents that took place i believe that they should at least defend their actions when it is in a time of need against the city.

Electoral College

The electoral college was created for two main reasons. When the founding fathers of the United States were creating our democracy, they feared a direct election of the Presidency and want to ensure that the President could not manipulate the people's view on him/her and that the election would be run fairly. The electoral college was also created as a compromise to ensure that smaller states had a say in the President and that the voting was not based solely on population and that each state would have at least three electoral votes.
I believe that the electoral college is fair because it does not allow a President to win by manipulating the votes. It is not based on popularity within the state but on what the representatives believes would make a good President for our nation. It is fair because it does not leave room for runoffs to occur and does not leave room for error within the votes. I agree with the electoral college system and think that is fairly represents our voting.

Head Of State

          In the movie Head of State, the main character, Mays Gillian, is selected to run for president after the former candidate was killed in a plane crash. In the beginning of Mays campaign, he told what to say, how to act, how to dress, and was given cue cards so he would always act in a manner that his campaign committee would approve of.
By the end of the movie, Mays becomes an actual competition to his opponent Brian Lewis after he starts running his campaign the way he wants to. Mays starts dressing in sweatpants and sweatshirts and sports clothes instead of suits, addresses the nation informally during press conferences, and most importantly, starts speaking from his heart on issues that mattered to him.
Because Mays is a candidate that was not the typical harvard graduate and senator or statesman, he directly relates to the lower and middle classes of society and directly relates to all of their problems and concerns. He has been through all of the same troubles and hardships that many of the people he addresses has been through, and because of that, the people love him and want him to win the campaign.

This movie satirizes political parties and how to nation responds to them. A scene in the movie that underscores that greatly is when it is announced that the former presidential candidate died in a plane crash and many of the listeners did not flinch or even react to what they just heard. This shows how people do not pay as much attention as they should to politics or that they don't care about what happens within the government.
Another example is when Mays travels from city to city reading off of a cue card about the structures he wants to implement in order to help the towns. He changes he idea for every town he visits so that that specific place will benefit from what he would be doing. He says what he knows the people want to hear in order to get more votes. Throughout this movie there are many ways in which political parties are satirized and there are many ways that Mays Gillian's campaign changes.