chapter 4

1.)    Not only do I feel that freedom of speech is important, I believe that is crucial to our nation and us as citizens to maintain our freedom. It is necessary that we as a people of a free nation have the right to have a voice and the right to speak out against circumstances and laws that we do not agree with.  I do not feel that the freedom goes too far at all, the only instances that I believe free speech should not be protected is if the speech is a form of hate speech (i.e. against a group of people such as races, genders, or sexual orientations) or if the speech means to demean or threaten our government.

2.)    I feel that if our government is to make fair laws that give equal rights to all citizens and people living in this country separation of church and state is crucial, although I believe that there is not much of a separation of church and state in today’s government.  I feel that our elected officials and law makers cannot or should not let their personal convictions of religion come into play when making laws for this country.  In the United States we have freedom of religion, meaning that there are a vast amount of religions practiced in this country. Laws should not reflect or show support of one religion or the other. If our government puts laws into place and makes things illegal that impede on other people’s rights simply because that is their personal belief and what they have been taught in their religion, how you can say that we have freedom of religion or that everyone in this country is equal? Some laws that are in place today do reflect or show support to a certain religion, and I do not agree with this. Religion should have no factor in law making and has no place in government.  When we make laws all that should be discussed or worried about is if the law is constitutional, and if that law gives people equal rights or takes away from their equality as American citizens.

3.)    I believe that defendants rights are very important to our government and that the amount of rights that defendants currently have are not excessive by any means. Everyone who is accused of committing a crime is entitled to a fair and speedy trial and to be tried by a jury of their peers. Our government also has other rules in place such as warrants, right to counsel, and self incrimination. All of these policies are put into place to protect us, our privacy, and our rights as U.S. citizens. Without these rules and regulations in place we would have a very poor justice system and innocent people would be convicted of crimes more than they are today. Granted there are many bad people out there that commit heinous crimes that may not deserve these rights in our opinions, but they are still an American citizen and are still entitled to these rights and to be treated equally as all others.  I know many people do believe that defendant’s rights are excessive, but try to put yourself in the defendant’s shoes. What if it were you on trial for a crime you may or may not have committed? You would want fairness and all of these rights granted to you, just as you and everyone else deserves.