Myra Blogs

  Plessy v. Ferguson  Facts  Petitioner : Homer Adolph Plessy  Respondent : John Ferguson  Location : Old Louisiana State Capital Decided by:  Fuller court  Time: April 13,1896- May 18, 1896 Advocates: A.W Tourgee, Samuel Field Phillips, Alexander Porter House What was the case? Louisiana legislated the Separate Car Act, which needed separate railway cars for blacks and whites. In 1892, Homer Plessy participated in a test to contest the Act. He was solicited by the Committee of citizens, a group of New Orleans residents who sought to repeal the act. Plessy was encouraged by the committee to sit in a ‘ whites only ’ automobile. When Plessy was told to vacate he refused and was arrested. It was argued by Plessy’s attorneys that the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendments. The judge found that Louisiana could execute this law insofar as it affected railroads. Plessy was condemned. Arguments  Plessy : secluded facilities violate the Eq...

  Brown vs. Board of Education  Facts:  Appellant : Oliver Brown, Mrs. Richard Lawton, Mrs. Sadie Emmanuel etc.  Appellee: Board of Education of Topeka, Shawnee County, Kansas, etc Decided by : Warren Court Time : Dec 9-11, 1952– May 17, 1954  Advocates: Robert L. Carter, Paul E. Wilson, Thurgood Marshall, John Davis, Spottswood Robinson… What was the Case? It was a consolidation of cases arising in Kansas, South Carolina, Delaware, Virginia and Washington D.C relating to the segregation of public schools on the basis of race. The African- American kids had been denied admittance to certain public schools based on laws allowing segregation by race in public education.  Arguments Made It was argued that secludedness breached the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Complainants were denied relief in the lower courts grounded on Plessy v. Fergueson, which held that racially secluded public establishments were lawful so long as establishments fo...

  Texas shooting and what it says about US gun laws? Biden Administration  Since the beginning of 2022, the US has surpassed 200 mass shootings(A mass shooting is defined as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed).  As the issue has shaken to the core, President Biden announced his Critical Incident Review which aims to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses on 24th May. Ms. Harris too addressed the issue with utmost solemnity stating that an assault weapon was designed for a specific purpose i.e. to kill. She added that it's a weapon of war with no place in a civil society.  Following this, Biden reiterated his call for Congress to pass laws to reduce gun brutality.  He called for closing the many loopholes that exist in the existing gun laws, including the ‘boyfriend’ and stalking loopholes. He also urged congress to pass a national ‘red flag’ law while simultaneously incentivizing states to pass ‘red flag’...

Texas shooting and what it says about our gun laws? Obama Administration “ We should be willing to challenge old assumptions to lessen the prospects of [such] violence in the future.”  These were the words Obama said, succeeding the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. Following this heinous and shocking act of violence that claimed the lives of a mere 6 and 7 years old's, President Obama announced that V.P Biden would lead an effort to work on a set of concrete policy proposals to reduce gun violence. However, actions and legislations were and have been defeated by a filibustering Senate minority. Therefore Obama decided to take up executive action that does not require congressional approval.  Following the bold actions, Biden prepared recommendations for executive actions, seeking input from citizens, firms, and organizations (including victims, advocates, educators, elected leaders, and wildlife conservationists) with an eclectic range of concerns, perspectives, and beli...

  Texas shooting and what it says about our gun laws? 40 minutes. Within 40 minutes, 21 lives were lost to the shooting. No older than 11, 19 of them were young children with aspirations and dreams of their own. 2 were educators and honored veterans, who had dedicated their lives to educating the youth. On 24th May 2022, Salvador Ramos 18 years, claimed these lives with an AR-15-style rifle at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The shooting was the third-deadliest school shooting in the United States, after the Virginia Tech shooting, in 2007 and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Once Again, the US is witnessing gun violence, raising domestic and international scrutiny of its comparatively loose gun laws. To put it in context In 2021, guns killed more than forty-five thousand Americans, the highest toll in decades. In today’s time, Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in the US. History keeps repeating itself, yet there has been limited ac...

Bathroom Bill: A turn towards regressive days One Step forward, two steps back. Simply put, that's what the situation sums up to when we compare the Obama administration and Trump administration. Another Aspect where we see this turn up is the infamous House Bill 2, commonly known as the Bathroom Bill. Former president Barack Obama had instructed public schools to allow transgender students to use facilities as per the gender the student identified with. This was interpreted as prohibition of sex discrimination in educational institutions and was the next step to creating a more inclusive society for all the members of the LGBTQ+ Community. However in 2017, With the coming of the Trump administration there wasn't only a reconsideration in the decision, but a reversal in the position on the sensitive issue. It all began with Letters from the Justice and Education departments that notified the Supreme court about the reversal of decision. The letters covered how the previous admi...