Skip School & Go to Jail

In Houston, Texas a 17-year-old girl, Diane Tran, was put in jail for a full 24 hours for missing too much school.

As a straight-A honors student at Willis High School (11th grade), Diane also worked two jobs -- part-time at a dry cleaner, and part-time for a Wedding planner -- in order to support her two siblings, after her parents' separated and her mother moved away from the family.

The state law in Texas allows no more than 10 absences within a six-month period of time.  Diane is considered an adult under Texas law, and was put in jail after a warrant went out for her arrest for truancy, which is considered a misdemeanor.

After the jailing of the honors student went viral, the Judge told many news sources that he put Diane in jail to set an example for the rest of the students in Texas.  According to Texas Compulsory Education Laws, the minimum time in jail for truants is 24 hours -- which is what she received.

Apparently, while Diane was in jail she was surrounded by any and all types of criminals -- from drug addicts, to prostitutes, to suspected murderers.  The girl has described her time in jail as "the worst experience of her life."

Needless to say, this is not what one would typically call a "fair" punishment for missing school.  Most kids would think something more like no television for a week, or having to do extra chores on the weekend.

The real question here is: Should Texas's truancy law be decided on a case-by-case basis? 

If the answer is "Yes" then a student who is already making straight As, taking college-level courses in high school, and holds two jobs to support her family should most likely not have been put in jail for this.

If the answer is "No" then there should be no certain GPA requirement to not be jailed, or any other type of exception to the rule for that matter.  This essentially means every person would be looked at as absolutely the same, no matter what their circumstances.

I do believe that state law is important to follow, and I don't think that very many exceptions should be made by the federal government, overturning the laws.  After all -- this freedom is part of what gives us as Americans the ability to prevent too much government control.

However, the one issue I have with the Judge's statement -- that he was trying to create an example with Diane -- is if he had been deciding these issues on a case-by-case basis, then even if we was attempting to make an example, he could have chosen a student who was doing worse in school, and who was in better circumstances than this girl (for example, did not have two jobs and two siblings to support).

That being said, I do not know every single detail of what happened, so I cannot fully take one side or another -- but the public outrage for what happened to Diane is already quite immense.  Many believe that the Judge should have just given the girl a break.


Finally, Happy Belated Memorial Day!

Before You Send That Text Message, Make Sure They Aren't Driving...

A case from New Jersey that has recently been brought up in the news seems to be the first of its kind in America.  A college student in New Jersey may potentially be held liable for texting her boyfriend, while she knew he was driving -- and allegedly, this caused him to crash into a couple on a motorcycle.  Both the man and woman on the motorcycle lost their left legs during the wreck.

On May 25, a Superior Court judge will determine whether or not the college student, Shannon Colonna, will be added to the suit against the driver, her boyfriend, Kyle Best.

New Jersey is one of 19 states in which it is illegal to text while driving.

The attorney for the couple on the motorcycle argued that if a person texts someone that they know is driving, and texting while driving is dangerous and violates the law, he believes a jury should decide.  He argued that the numerous text messages (about 60) that they had sent throughout the day made Colonna "electronically present" in the car.

The man who was driving and hit the couple on the motorcycle, Best, testified that he was not actually texting when he crossed a lane of traffic and hit the couple, but he was glancing down at a text sent from Colonna.


Another argument the lawyer for the motorcyclists made is that passengers in cars who encourage drivers to ignore traffic violations can be held liable for accidents -- he believes that this is the same situation, as Colonna knew that texting and driving was breaking the state law.

I do have to agree with the defending lawyer in this case -- the only person to be held liable here is the driver.  It is completely unreasonable to suggest that Colonna knew exactly when Best would look at the message she sent him.  There is no proof, or reason, that she had an intent of him looking at her text message while he was driving, and then subsequently causing an accident.

It would not surprise me, however, if in the near future there are laws put into place about liability being placed on those who text people while they are driving.  At this rate, with the fast and continuous advancement of technology, we have GPS capabilities on smart phones that can track where the person you are talking to is.  Maybe in the future there will be some sort of limit on the speed they are going that someone is allowed to text another person -- if they are going over 10 mph, you should know they are driving and not send them a text message.  Let's hope that doesn't happen though.

Regardless, this would all still be very unreasonable, even in the case of the smart phone GPS and what not.   A person has to literally be psychic to know exactly when the person they are sending a text message to will look down at that message, driving or not.

CIA Bomb Interception

According to a source familiar with United States Central Intelligence Agency, an international American spy gained access to the Al Qaeda cell.  The informant was apparently the would-be bomber in the airline plot, who had Al Qaeda fooled from the start.

The U.S. intelligence learned last month that the Yemen branch of Al Qaeda was planning to launch a huge attack using a new and nearly undetectable bomb aboard an airliner bound for the United States.

Luckily, the man the terrorists were counting on to carry out the attack was in fact a CIA agent who also worked with Saudi intelligence.

So basically, the U.S. was able to prevent the success of the attack before it even had the chance.

Al Qaeda has made repeated attempts to detonating a bomb aboard an American airliner – this was only the latest misfire.

It was a victory for the U.S. and the bomb was soon delivered to U.S. intelligence to analyze.

The FBI is currently analyzing the explosive – it was intended to be hidden in the passenger's underwear. Analysts and officials say that the bomb was certainly an upgrade from the previous bomb that misfired in Detroit on Christmas in 2009.  There was no metal contained in this bomb, which would have made it hard for Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to detect at the airport, although officials believed that a body scanner would have detected this bomb.

Although there have been many complaints in the recent past about having to pass through tedious, and sometimes even embarrassing, procedures at airports in the United States, the House Intelligence Committee Chairman acknowledged that this is one of the main reasons we are kept safe from these types of attacks.  The U.S. uses these types of measures as a serious concern for the safety of American passengers, especially within the past decade (since the occurrence of 9/11).

The question here is whether or not to attempt to improve security in international airports with U.S.-bound passengers.  Many countries do agree that their security needs to be better, at least somewhere near the level of security at American airports.  If not, we face dangers from flights coming to the U.S. from overseas.

It is reassuring, however, to know that every single passenger boarding U.S.-bound flights are checked against terrorist watch-lists, as well as law-enforcement databases.

This one was a victory for America.  In the meantime, we must not let our guard down, especially concerning a terrorist group as serious as Al Qaeda.

Taking Advantage of Your 26th Amendment Right

In 1971, the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution gave everyone 18 years of age or older the right to vote. The youth vote is of great importance because of as more young people vote, the more we will see our elected officials actually have concern for the things that matter to us (especially since we are also the group who tends to do a lot of complaining when things don't go our way).

 The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.

 --26th Amendment of the United States Constitution

American citizens, especially the the youth, must realize that elected officials make a ton of decisions, everyday, that directly affect our lives.  Congress, the President, and other federal and local leaders elected decide whether to raise taxes, lower taxes, create economic policies that could affect jobs, and make decisions on when, or if, it is appropriate to use military force (in other countries or on our home front).

 
Whether you are interested in politics or not -- These are all basic, yet very important, issues that we must use our rights as American citizens to decide on ourselves.

Voting really is one of the greatest rights of any free people to have.  It's what makes America a country with a "government of the people, by the people, and FOR the people," as Abe Lincoln stated in the 1863 Gettysburg Address.  Voting gives people the power to choose who they want in power.

Accountability seems to have become a huge issue within these past few years, especially with members of Congress sneaking around, stealing money, and engaging in other various unlawful activities.  Luckily, however, your vote holds your local and national leaders responsible for the decisions they make.  In this sense, the accountability question is answered: it is the fault of the civil official for not keeping his/her promises to the constituents.

If you are not exactly sure what people in the 7th District of North Carolina are voting on today, here are my two previous posts on a couple of the main issues that will be on today's ballot:


Amendment One.
Congressional Republican Nominee


Please make sure to go vote today -- It takes five minutes, and you will certainly not regret it.

There are so many polling locations, I am confident that at least one of them will be convenient for you:


New Hanover County Polling Locations


Happy Voting.

It's Back: Keystone XL Pipeline Debate

This past January, President Obama blocked a proposition for the Keystone XL Pipeline, which would carry oil from tar sands in western Canada to a hub in Steele City, Nebraska, then link up to other pipelines operated by the same company to transport oil to refineries around the Texas Gulf Coast.

Map of Potential Pipeline' s Route through North America

Although President Obama blocked the project, he did not completely reject the idea -- the White House correspondence liked to say that the "decision was postponed."  Republican supporters of the Keystone Pipeline project were extremely unhappy with this decision.

TransCanada, the company who proposed the project, is expected to reapply for another Keystone Pipeline permit for the President and various federal officials to review.  This means that we may have another shot at undertaking the pipeline project.

By "postponing" the Keystone XL Pipeline in January, an estimated potential 6,000 new jobs that would have resulted from the project, were never created.  Many oil refinery companies with the United States pulled back on hiring after this decision because they were uncertain of any increase of business within the near future.

The country's current unemployment rate was released today -- and it is a staggering 8.1%.

Cartoon Depiction of One Major Benefit of the Proposed Pipeline

The project will cost in the multi-billions, but would greatly reduce the United States' dependence of foreign oil and stimulate tremendous job growth for American workers.

And Even More Good News for Everyone: This may also mean lower gas prices at the pump.

 Remember these days?

President Obama, many Democrats, and environmental groups are concerned about the Keystone XL Pipeline because they believe that the oil transported from tar sands in Alberta, Canada would be "dirty" and, in turn, take more energy to extract.  They are also concerned about a possible spill due to the distance oil will be traveling throughout North America.

Pipeline Protesters in Washington, DC.

The new application of the Keystone Pipeline XL will be reviewed, but a final decision is not estimated until sometime early next year --  which means that this issue will be a big one for the upcoming Presidential Election.

I am excited to hear both sides of the discussion, and of course the ultimate decision, concerning the reinstating of the proposal for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The First of May: National Law Day

Anyone who knows me know that I know lots of random holidays, mainly because practically every day of the year honors something (yesterday, April 30, was Confederate Memorial Day).  This is why I was surprised that today -- Law Day -- had not been brought to my attention, until today.

Established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1958, today is meant to honor the American legal system, attorneys who work for justice, the rule of law, and all enforcers of the law.  It can also certainly be seen as a type of celebration, for many reasons...

Today marks the One Year Anniversary of Osama Bin Laden's capture by Navy Seal Team 6.  Bin Laden's death is a remarkable day in the history of the United States because it was a day when true justice was finally served -- after almost a full 10 years -- to one of the most evil men to have ever lived.

On National Law Day, we celebrate the enduring legacy of justice and equality under the law, as well as appreciate the democracy that we have sustained by the rule of law.

President Obama gave a proclamation today about Law Day, in which he said "In accordance with Public Law 87-20, as amended, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2012, as Law Day, U.S.A. I call upon all Americans to acknowledge the importance of our Nation's legal and judicial systems with appropriate ceremonies and activities, and to display the flag of the United States in support of this national observance."

I thought this was an important remark that he made.  People tend to take for granted the legal system that exists in our remarkable country -- even though it is not one hundred percent perfect, I can say with confidence that it really is what keeps our country in tact, and the reason that we have our freedoms and ability to attain justice today, as well as our safety.

To Put it Simply: Without the Rule of Law, it would literally be impossible for us to function as the productive society we are today.

Happy Law Day, and Remember to have your American flag on display all day today.
 

Visit LawDay.org if you would like more information