Civil Liberties Test

When freedoms and protections collide it causes a controversial argument that end up being decided by human rights. In Bethal v. Fraser, Fraser made a speech to motivate students for elective office, he used a sexual graphic and got suspended for 2 days. The freedom in this case is that the boy should not be punished due to the 1st amendement free speech. The protection is to the kids at the school should not be exposed to sexual content. Many parents were upset about this causing pressure to the school. This shows school v. freedoms because when you are at school you are pretty much under government control and therefore the rules can be a lot stricter. For this case protections won because the innapropriate actions took place in school and the school found it unacceptable. During the New Jersey v. T.L.O case a 14 year old girl was accused of smoking in the girls bathroom. Many wondered if the schools search violated the 4th and 14th amendment of the school searching through her purse. The answer to that question was no because pucularities associated with searches on school grounds can be conducted only with a “probable cause”. There was definitely a probable cause because someone had been smoking in the batheroom and school needed to take action. The freedoms for this case would be that the person has privacy and by the school rumbling through her purse violates her privacy. Although it is a sketchy search, positive results turned out in the end by catching her for illegal drugs, but also many others. When freedoms and protections collide in this case the protections override the freedoms because it was during school hours and it is protecting the other students from drugs is a big issue. In Veronia School District 47 v. Acton An official investigation led to the discovery that many students were concerned that drug use increased the risk of injury. A popular question that many ask as students, does random drug testing of high school students violate the reasonable search and seizure 4th amendment? No because students are choosing to stay after school for a sport on their time therefore are allowed to be drug tested. The freedom in this case is that students should not be searched or tested for no apparent reason. The protection, ofcourse, wins the fight because once again, students are under state supervision during school hours and because it is their choice to stay after for an athletic event they can be tested without violations. In Presser v. People of Illinois, Presser was found guilty of parading a group of armed men without authorization in the State of Illinois. The defendant argued about the 2nd amendment but the court ruled the states have the power to control and regulate military bodies, including drilling and parading activities. the states were prohibited from disarming "all citizens capable of bearing arms" because it conflicted with the federal government's right to a reserve military powers or a militia. The freedoms are the 2nd amendment, right to bear arms and right to parade or militia. The protections would be of the citizens of illinois and their protection against people with guns. In this case freedoms wins no problem because the 2nd amendment overrides the states because it is a federal law.