Volunteers Feed The Homeless,
Get Arrested By Police
On January 14th of 2018, 12 people from a volunteer group were arrested for handing out food to the homeless.
To provide some backstory to this situation, a community group called “Break The Ban” were distributing food and other items to the homeless population at a park in California. According to the police officers that arrived, they were violating a ban on sharing food in city-owned public areas, which was recently passed by the City of El Cajon in 2017. The reason for this ban was to stop the spread of Hepatitis A. the police cited some of the volunteers to jail but did not take them. But, for the two volunteers they arrested are scheduled to appear in court. The group was outraged by the act and is planning to fight the citations and the food-sharing ban.
There was another case in which this incident has occurred. According to Forbes, in Fort Lauderdale, police arrested a 90-year old man and two ministers in 2014 for trying to share their food with the homeless. In October of 2014, the city enacted an ordinance that bans sharing food in public parks, unless they have a permit from the city. As a result of this situation, the organization arrested (Food Not Bombs) sued the city of Fort Lauderdale on the basis of the ordinance violated their right to free speech and free association, and the ordinance was “unconstitutionally vague.” At first, a federal district court dismissed the case since food sharing events were outside the scope of the First Amendment since it did not convey a “particularized message.”
But, under that line of reasoning, that sounds like the First Amendment is confined to expressions conveying a particularized message. So, as a result, the case was ruled that Food Not Bombs does have a First Amendment right to share food. The case was sent back down to the lower courts to determine if the city’s ordinance was in violation of those rights. The city of Lauderdale has not responded to the request yet.
————————– Questions:
1) How does the First Amendment apply to these news stories?
2) Why do you feel the ordinance being issued to prevent the spread of Hepatitis A was or was not justified?
3) Are there laws in your community restricting feeding the homeless, if so what are they, how do you feel about there being or not being laws about this activity in your community, and what can you do to support/change those local laws/policies?
4) (High School Students only) Even if you disagree with the policy in this case, imagine that there are some activities that people volunteer for or donate to that are meant to ‘make the world a better place’, but which should be managed or limited by local laws. How should local governments and law makers decide if an activity requires them to get involved in those activities (ex: Should sheltering homeless animals and feeding the homeless face the same kinds of restriction)?
Be sure to provide full explanations for each of your answers. For more details, you can read the article this piece was sourced from here:
Experts Say Leaking Information is
as American as Apple Pie?!
In some cases, leaks have changed the course of American history while shaping the nation’s laws. There are a number of statutes that criminalize leaking information, yet not all leaks are necessarily criminal.
Leaks in modern history that are certain to remain historically notable include those of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Shadow Brokers’ NSA Hacking tools data dump, and the early days of The Trump Presidential Administration. Despite taking up significantly more air time in media outlets, the majority of leaks from the offices of President Trump remain unsubstantiated. The leaks of Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and the Shadow Brokers have had an immediate and lasting impact on American history.
In the case of Edward Snowden, we encourage students to read our book ‘The Government, Privacy, and You’ (free copies of which can be requested using the ‘OUR PROJECT’ section of our website – which you’re already on). As of the publication date of this post, Mr. Snowden remains in Russia with the possibility of being charged with treason, espionage, and criminal release of classified information hanging over his head.
Chelsea Manning – who was recently released from prison following a presidential order of clemency issued by President Barack Obama in his last days in office – released information to WikiLeaks that had significant impacts on American foreign policy. Most notably, Manning released a video of an airstrike in Afghanistan in which over 80 civilians were killed by US forces after the details of the operation had been held back from public release, and the release of diplomatic communications which (upon their release) resulted in many of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings of 2010-2012.
The Shadow Brokers was a hacker collective that released reports and files created by the NSA. The information included a number of tools and exploits that could be used to monitor or control people’s personal electronic devices. Following the Edward Snowden leaks (which revealed the US government had digitally programs that involved at least the possibility of domestic surveillance), the implication of the Shadow Brokers release was that the NSA had tools for spying not just on terror suspects but American citizens.
These are just a few examples of leaks that changed the history of America and the perception of the administrations in power at the time of their release. Republican, Democrat, Independent, Liberal, Conservative, or Moderate – information leaks have impacted administrations and governments of all types throughout American history.
————————– Questions:
1) What is a government leak you’re already familiar with? If you don’t know one, research one and summarize it in 1 – 6 sentences:
2) Regarding that whistleblowing incident – who do you believe was ‘right’ in the situation, and what about what you know about that whistleblowing incident leads you to that conclusion?
3) Whistleblowing is a challenging subject for the people coming forward: They might have legal protections to their job and their freedom, but how can they be expected to stay at a place where they betrayed the trust of the organization (even if the organization was doing something bad)?
4) Whistleblowing can also be a challenging subject for people being reported on: What if the whistleblower is wrong and what the company/person was doing is allowed? If they fire the ‘whistleblower’ they can face major punishments (financial penalties) for firing the person (it’s called retaliation). What can be done to prevent situations of false / improper whistleblowing? An example would be people posting videos of how fast food is made on Tick Tock. If a company isn’t pretending the food is ‘natural and organic’, why should (or shouldn’t) their employees really be allowed to post videos of that process?
Be sure to provide full explanations for each of your answers. For more details, you can read the article this piece was sourced from here:
Giraffe populations have dropped dramatically in the past twenty years, in fact in Northern Kenya the population has dropped by over 70% in the past two decades. Researchers have been working at finding a solution to decrease the rapid rate that giraffes are decreasing in population size. The road to that starts with observing the giraffes.
The status of the giraffe population has placed them on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Vulnerable and on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Poaching, habitat loss and disease has made them extinct in seven African nations. For a species that once had over 160,000 in 1985, there are less than 100,000 remaining. In the sub-Saharan desert, the extinction of the giraffe has gone largely unnoticed.
This is where you come in.
The researchers have set up an online site where users actively stream the footage and help the researchers make observations. This is a great way to make a global impact without having to leave the comfort of your own home. The crowd sourcing project invites the public to help organize the data, which is vital to the success of the conservation projects.
Those projects also provide people to actively engage in the protection of endangered species. More than 1 million images from the motion-activated camera in Kenya have assisted the researchers in cataloging each image and identifying and counting the animals caught on camera.
“Community conservancies are where we are seeing strong signs of hope with increasing giraffe population numbers and we are working hard to support those conservancies”, said David O’Connor, researcher and conservation ecologist for the San Diego Zoo.
1) This volunteer opportunity is one that can be fun and really convenient at the same time. Now it’s your turn: Come up with your own idea for a unique way to make the world a better place like this one! What is your idea, and how would it work ?
2) If you have already heard of other opportunities like this one – something fun and easy that helps make a big difference, what was it and what about it seems fun to you? If you haven’t heard of other ‘fun’ volunteer options, go searching online for ‘fun easy volunteering’ opportunities, and then report back: What is one opportunity you found that you would be willing to do, and what makes it so appealing to you ?
Are your mobile phone’s apps listening to you? You might not think so, and yet a recent article on Wired.com reports that there’s a good chance your phone is listening to you right now as your read this article
Disclaimer: If you are reading this in Project REAL’s App, rest assured we are not listening to you, and encourage you to check our app’s permission settings in your phone if you would like verification.
According to the article, a large amount of the most downloaded apps in the iTunes, Google Play, and Windows Apps stores require users to grant them permission to access a phone’ s microphone. This permission is then used by the app to listen for ‘ultrasonic beacons’ – sounds the human ear can’t detect that trigger a reaction in the app. If you’re familiar with Shazam, imagine if you were home listening to music while doing your homework and you opened the app to find it had not only recorded every song that played while you listened, but ordered those songs from an online music store!
To some this revelation is concerning, though to others it just doesn’t matter. Perhaps you don’t mind if a McDonalds app hears an ultrasonic frequency that lets it know you skipped school to catch a matinee of the new movie you’ve been dying to see. Perhaps they’ll use that information to decide to partner with the film’s producers if there’s a sequel. What if you have an app from your workplace on your phone and it tells your employers you were at a movie on a day you called in sick? Suddenly, the thought of your phone listening for ultrasonic beacons without your consent each time becomes rather frightening, doesn’t it?
————————– Questions:
1) Why should there be or not be laws preventing these techniques?
2) Why Should consumers have a right or not have a right to be notified every time an app wishes to listen for beacons?
3) Why should there be or not be time limits (where an app can only listen for so much time after each authorization to do so)?
Be sure to provide full explanations for each of your answers. For more details, you can read the article this piece was sourced from here::
Learning Together:
What Are Social Host Liability Laws?
Did you know you can get in trouble for what people do after attending a party you’ve thrown? A California court found the young host of a party liable for the death caused by one of his party’s attendees who had been drinking.
Andrew Ennabe was a 19-year-old college student who was killed by a drunk driver in 2007. The drunk driver was Thomas Garcia. On the night in question, Mr. Garcia became intoxicated while drinking at a house party in Diamond Bar CA in 2007. Now he is currently serving 14 years for manslaughter.
Andrew Ennabe’s family sued the party host, however the original California court in which the case was heard dismissed the case on the grounds that Ennabe’s family hadn’t proven the party host’s responsibility in the matter. After the case was appealed, California’ s Supreme Court found that the case should be heard by the lower court under California’s social host liability laws.
While California may have a reputation for ‘progressive’ laws and the party host may not face criminal consequences in this particular case, the variety of cases which make their way through civil courts is plentiful. While you should always consider your actions from ethical and moral standpoints, the legal consequences of the choices you make should also be a consistent factor in your decision making process.
Whether you are a teen heading off to college, a recent graduate with a close call, or a parent worried for your student now that they’re living away from their childhood homes, we encourage you to share your experiences and thoughts on this matter in our comments section.
————————– Questions:
1) What social-host liability exists in Nevada? Is there criminal, civil, or both?
2) What is a situation you have been in where someone (maybe even you) could have ended up in trouble because of a ‘social host liability’ legal consequence?
3) Other than holding a house party where underage people drink (or do drugs), now that you are almost 18 or having reached the age of 18, what is a situation that you could easily find yourself in where you or a friend could end up in trouble for ‘social host liability’ reasons (Imagine if you ‘go off to college’ – what could happen there)?
4) In context to your response to Question 3 above, what do you plan to do to limit your criminal and civil liability under ‘social host’ conditions once you move out and start living on your own?
Be sure to provide full explanations for each of your answers. For more details, you can read the article this piece was sourced from here::
For Hollywood stars, death might not be the end of their career. In the last couple of years movies have remastered deceased actors and actresses but, can they do that? What are the laws behind using someone’s image and voice after they’ve been long gone?
Perhaps you’ve seen Star Wars: Rouge One. Or maybe you watched the original film The Crow. In both these films, the likeness of actors who were deceased (in one case for several years and the other for just several weeks) were used after their deaths. Even concerts are using holographic technology and past recordings to put on shows using deceased musicians (with Tupac and Michael Jackson being famous and somewhat recent examples of this technique).
As digital manipulation technologies improve, so does the entertainment industry’s ability to use a performer’s likeness after his or her death. In some instances, the performer designated ownership of the rights to family members or their estates. In other cases, no clear guidance has been provided as to how their likeness may be used after a performer has passed away.
————————– Questions:
1) What do you think about companies using people’s likeness after they have deceased?
2) Why should their or shouldn’t there be laws requiring ‘designated consent’ before these methods are employed (meaning there needs to be laws that require a person to agree to their image being used if they die, and that no more projects like the ones in the story could happen until such laws were created to restrict that practice)?
3) What if movie studios start requiring performers to authorize use of their likeness after death – should there be limits to what requirements can be included in a performer’s contract?
Author Reece Jones’ book ‘Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move” argues that by removing borders, people have more access to human rights. On one hand, this certainly can make sense: Without borders, people can travel freely and escape from living under governments they are scared of. On the other hand, borders can help preserve cultures and societies.
Consider the United States: within the US are 50 states each within their own borders. The country has a set of laws that apply to all citizens at all times. Each state then has it’s own set of laws that may be different from the state next-door to it. Those state laws reflect the residents’ values while the country’ s laws reflect broader values of the citizens of the nation.
Jones’ claim that less borders increases access to human rights is an interesting one that is sure to spark differing opinions. This is… well, it’s an interesting idea! It’s also sure to stir debate – possibly even in your classroom!
————————– Questions:
1) Without borders, where would one state’s laws end and another begin?
2) How would you even know what state you are in?
3) What are your feelings about Jones’ idea? Why do you think it would or would not work? What effects do you imagine it would have?
Be sure to provide full explanations for each of your answers. For more details, you can read the article this piece was sourced from here:
After Teenage Mistakes, Pardons Give Second Chance to Ex-Offenders
Making a mistake is part of life and as a teenager you’re bound to make several but, making a mistake that defines your whole life when your 17 is the harsh reality for some. Contrary to popular belief, juvenile criminal records aren’t always sealed and can follow people throughout their lives.
What kinds of consequences might young offenders face? Foremost, a young offender with a criminal record may not be able to work in certain industries (jobs that involve working with children or positions that handle money will certainly be restricted). Even then, employers faced with choosing to hire between a candidate with a criminal record and one without one are more likely to hire the applicant without a criminal history. Difficulty securing work can lead to other life long problems. Without steady work, a person’s opportunity to make money is severely limited. This might lead to a life of poverty and the struggles that come with it.
Depending on the circumstances, a juvenile record that remains unsealed may be resolved through a pardon. The process for securing pardons for criminal histories of a minor differs from state to state, however that process is rarely short let alone easy. If a pardon is issued an individual may have an opportunity to secure a second chance at a productive and successful life for themselves, however pardons are rare and shouldn’t be considered a guaranteed solution.
New York is changing the lives of young offenders by granting pardons in some cases. The lesson isn’t to expect a pardon or a second chance, but rather to understand the struggle for the many individuals facing lives of constant struggle as a result of poor decisions they made as teenagers. Consider the consequences of your actions.
QUESTIONS:
1. What did you think happened to your ‘juvenile record’ before reading this news piece? In other words, before reading this piece, what did you think would happen once you turned 18 if you had been in legal trouble before becoming an adult?
2. Answer depending on how you feel: Why is it fair or unfair for the process of getting a juvenile record ‘sealed’ or hidden to be so difficult for some people? If you’re still not clear on the idea of a juvenile record, think about it like a ‘permanent record’ that follows you through life as you apply for schools, jobs, a place to live and really just about anything you want that would need some kind of application.
3. What is the process to get a juvenile record sealed in the state you live in? Specifically: How long can it take and what is the least amount of money it would cost to do it?
Viewed over 11 million times, one Indiana law enforcement officer’s fun video about a commonly ignored law has gone Viral. Indiana’s State Police Sgt. John Perrine was getting frustrated after witnessing numerous drivers failing to signal before turning or changing lanes, and decided to do something about it.
Rather than just spending time issuing ticket after ticket in hopes of word getting out, Sgt. Perrine created a surprising video discussing the ‘amazing technological advances and fantastic benefits’ of using turn signal technologies (the lights used by drivers to let people know if they are going to change lanes, so the people behind them don’t speed up and create an accident). The amusing video is a friendly reminder to use your turn signal, but also that officers are people who like to have fun at work when they can just like the rest of us!
There’s more to the story than an officer being creative while on the job: Sgt. Perrine is a Public Information Officer in his region, meaning one of his duties is to serve as a communication point in the community. Police departments throughout the country – including Nevada – have officers like Sgt. Perrine in place to help build relationships between officers and the communities they serve.
——— Questions:
1: Research and report : What is something fun or interesting that police officers that have done in your community?
2: Why do you think it is important or unimportant for officers to engage with the community (do things other than ‘official policing stuff’) ?
3: What is something that you don’t think police officers already do in your community that you would like them to, and why would you want them to do that?
Teen Vandals Sentenced to
Read Books & Write Papers
It’s rare that a punishment can be inspiring but, a judge in Virginia has given a sentence to young vandals that orders them to read books and write papers. As a provider of educational resources, we find this to be a unique sentence – one that we support. We also hope more judges will find creative ways to change and educate young offenders.
Five 16 and 17 year old boys in Virginia had been found guilty of spray painting racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic symbols on a historic building in their community. At the behest of the prosecutor on the boys’ case, the sentencing judge gave the teens – none of whom had prior records – a list of 35 books and 14 movies with themes of race, gender and religious issues.
The boys were required to provide written reports on what they read or watched on a monthly basis, and their parents had to visit a holocaust museum with them so ‘the whole family would learn together’.
The prosecutor explained ””They have to write either a book report once a month of they can substitute three of of the books for a movie review, so I also gave them a list of approved movies that they can watch. And hopefully, what they get out of this year is a greater appreciation for gender, race, religion, bigotry. And then when they go out in to the world, they are teachers.“
QUESTIONS
——
1) Why does it seem fair or unfair (depending how you feel) that young people like these students can be given non-traditional punishments (having to do book reports instead of going to jail) ?
2) The judge in this case decided how to punish the students even though there wasn’t a law or rule explaining to the judge how unique their punishment could be. What benefitsare there to our community when judges can make up their own punishments?
3) The judge in this case decided how to punish the students even though there wasn’t a law or rule explaining to the judge how unique their punishment could be. What risks are there to our community when judges can make up their own punishments?
Thank you for letting us watch the civil case! It was cool because it was a real case and not one played out. I had a lot of fun watching the other kids act out a session. Thank you for your time.
- Kaylie [Hewetson Elementary - Grade 5]
Project Real
2020-12-11T20:39:35+00:00
Thank you for letting us watch the civil case! It was cool because it was a real case and not one played out. I had a lot of fun watching the other kids act out a session. Thank you for your time. - Kaylie [Hewetson Elementary - Grade 5]
My favorite part of the fieldtrip to the courthouse is when I got to play the part of Ron. I got to go on the witness chair and speaking. I helped Potter to be not guilty. Thank you for the great opportunity.
- Johnathan M [Harmon Elementary - Grade 4]
Project Real
2020-12-16T21:47:04+00:00
My favorite part of the fieldtrip to the courthouse is when I got to play the part of Ron. I got to go on the witness chair and speaking. I helped Potter to be not guilty. Thank you for the great opportunity. - Johnathan M [Harmon Elementary - Grade 4]
Thank you for letting us experience court for the first time. It was the best experience ever, thank you for everything. You really made me think about being a judge. Thank you
-Mina L [ Twitchell Elementary - Grade 5]
Project Real
2020-12-16T22:04:09+00:00
Thank you for letting us experience court for the first time. It was the best experience ever, thank you for everything. You really made me think about being a judge. Thank you -Mina L [ Twitchell Elementary - Grade 5]
