By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) The United States Supreme Court case Sessions v. Dimaya made headlines on Tuesday, April 17 when Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump nominee and noted conservative, sided with those more liberal in the decision that the Immigration and Nationality Act. This act defines a violent crime as eligibility for deportation, which is unconstitutionally vague under the...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) A product of frustrations with state disinterest in public education over the past decade, teachers’ strikes began in March 2018 in West Virginia, and in April 2018 in Kentucky and Oklahoma These protests and walkouts, while presumably about state budgets, may also be in response to the teachers’ frustrations regarding state courts neglect to enforce the...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court John Paul Stevens published an op-ed in the New York Times on March 27, 2018, arguing for the repeal of the Second Amendment. Stevens was appointed by Gerald Ford in 1975 and quickly became a liberal stalwart until his retirement in 2010. The Second Amendment provides for, in exact words, “a well regulated militia...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) Signs with proclamations such as,“Enough is Enough” and “Am I Next?” dotted the streets of Washington DC at the March for Our Lives on March 24, 2018. The march’s purpose was to advocate for increased gun control policy, largely calling for a ban on assault weapons in response to a recent school shooting. But a federal weapons assault ban has already been tried —...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) In a referendum on June 23, 2016, 51.9% of voters in the United Kingdom (UK) elected to leave the European Union (EU) in a decision commonly referred to as Brexit. On March 29, 2017, the UK government invoked Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union, kickstarting negotiations regarding the UK’s departure from the EU. Brexit’s impact extends beyond the UK...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) 20th century Europe was characterized by economic, territorial and ideological conflict. As a result of these conflicts, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) were both developed. NATO, a 54-year-old collective security organization with 19 members, including the United States and Canada, guaranteed the security of Europe and...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) 2017 in California was characterized, among other things, by the wildfires that ravaged the state. Over 9,000 wildfires raged across California, burning down 10,000 structures and killing at least 46 civilians and firefighters. The current California wildfire policies did not aid the populus as much as they should have. Therefore, major changes to California...
By Elinor Aspegren (PZ ’20) The police chief of Tehran, the Iranian capital, announced Dec. 29 that Tehran police would no longer detain and punish women seen without a proper hijab in public—an offense commonly called a “bad hijab.” Instead, the women will be forced to attend Islam educational classes. The decision to lift this ban, at least in the capital, may appear inconsequential, yet...
