So Much Dessert...

Today began the last week of classes and my last week in New York City. Even though I have loved every minute of this program I am still excited to return home to my bed and my dog. And my family of course! I headed out to breakfast with Margaret and we ate like zombies, eyes glazing into the distance, our motions slow and monotonous. Going from the lovely local restaurants to dining hall food was a little like going into withdrawal, but thankfully they had bacon. At 9:45 Emily and I were off to class, up the many flights of stairs to the seventh floor of Hamilton, our home away from home away from home.

Class today was definitly the most fascinating of the classes we have had. We discussed many cases involving the right to privacy. The 4th Amendment grants people security from "unreasonable searches and seizures" as well as requres that law enforcement get a warrant in order to perfrom an arrest or a search. In the cases we read the term unreasonable was really put to the test. Thank God the writers of the Consitution decided to use unambiguous and very clear and specific words like unreasonable (that was sarcasm). In the cases we read, wiretapping, aerial flight, thermal imaging, and searches following arrests were all called into question. I personally loved the case where police flew a plane over a mans house in order to see over his fence to confirm if he was growing marijuana plants or not. In that case the actions of the police were constitutional because anyone could have flown a plane directly over the house and anyone could have seen the marijuana. In the afternoon we talked about terrorism and how to treat suspected terrorists  I was a bit surprised how radical some of the kids in the class were, some declaring that terrorists were not even humans. I am still loving our discussions and hearing differing opinions, tomorrow is going to be fun!

In the afternoon I finished up my first draft of my paper. I wrote my own opinion on the case Terry v. Ohio, which declared that an officer with reasonable suspicion that someone may commit a crime and pat them down for weapons or other illegal paraphernalia. My essay is about 7 pages and is around 2100 words. Writing it was fun and I feel so accomplished having finished the foundation of it. I still have the utmost respect for Margaret  who has to write at minimum double what I had to write, along with citing sources and providing research and analysis. Good luck Margaret. I am ready to sleep now, but I still have to read three more cases. They sure are interesting, but the Supreme Court does know how to write in just the way to make my eyes start to close. I am ready for tomorrow to start so we can talk and discuss some more!