Judiciary

The job of the Supreme Court is to apply the Constitution, not to make public policy. That means that if they're doing their job, the specific outcomes of the decision shouldn't be a factor in their decision. That's why, sometimes, bad guys go free because the police violated a rule that protects all of us in we're accused of wrongdoing. Free speech can also be troublesome. It sounds a lot better in theory than it sometimes turns out in practice.

Find a Supreme Court case decided this year called Elonis v. United States.

What can you say and not say on social media? Where does your freedom of speech end and become a specific threat to another person?

Read about the case and write an essay telling your reader what the case was about, what the court majority decided and why. If you were a Supreme Court Justice, what would your decision have been and why?

Submit in Word. Cite your sources.

Resources

The SCOTUS blog is always a great place to start: http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/elonis-v-united-states/

The Cornell Law School also: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/13-983

As always, the New York Times is a great resource for Supreme Court cases: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/us/supreme-court-rules-in-anthony-elonis-online-threats-case.html