Heavy Rain.

Today I went back to my daily routine of waking up at 8:30, eating breakfast, and going to class. Today we discussed a few cases from the reading the day before. One case that I found particularly interesting was Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). This case involved the prosecution of Brandenburg  a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who, in a televised rally, warned the US government that the Klan might resort to "revengence" if the government continues treating the Klan badly. In the same speech Brandenburg also urged the deportation of the Jews back to Israel and all blacks back to Africa. Brandenburg was tried under the Ohio Criminal Syndicalism Act. Both the district court and the appellate court in Ohio ruled that Brandenburg was guilty, but the Supreme Court reversed the decision. Brandenburg was arguing that his right to free speech was violated and thus his 14th amendment rights were violated too. In the opinion of the Court, the Clear and Present Danger test was narrowed and refined into the Brandenburg test. In this test multiple factors are taken into effect to determine when speech can be limited. These factors are: an imminent danger resulting from the spoken words, the direct incitement to commit a crime, and the probability of the incitement actually resulting in action. The Court ruled that even though the words Brandenburg used referred to a violent insurrection  the probability of that happening was slim, there was no imminent danger of it happening, and because it was only a warning there was no direct incitement. Therefore, even though Brandenburg preached hate and violence, he could not be legally tried under the Ohio act and the district court decision was reversed. We discussed at length in class how maybe the Brandenburg test is becoming outdated due to high speed internet and cellular based communication. With 24 hour access to all information, it is difficult to determine when something is directly inciting someone to do something, or whether something will probably cause someone to act against the law. Every day we discuss more and more interesting topics and I am loving every minute of class.

Gloomy overcast weather and an awesome movie poster by Times Square.

The weather today was amazing and horrible at the same time. The second class started, the downpour also started. It rained for a solid two straight hours and multiple kids phones went off in class warning them about floods. It was daunting knowing that when class ended we would have to walk into the wall of rain, soaking our clothes and ruining our day. But thankfully the rain stopped right when class stopped, and resumed when class resumed. All around we were pretty lucky with the weather today. I actually had to wear my new Columbia sweatshirt because it was windy and 75 degrees, cold by our new standards! 

Margaret and I take Quidditch VERY seriously.

For an evening event, Margaret, Emily, Claire, and myself all went to Potted Potter. The off broadway show was getting rave reviews and being Harry Potter fans we were all looking forward to seeing it. Sadly, the show was not what we expected. It was more of a family friendly kids show. Though it was fun seeing how excited all the little kids got when the two actors made funny voices and faces, the show just was not what we hoped it would be. However we have made good plans for the rest of the week, possibly even an Imagine Dragons concert so we will not let one negative event bring us down!