Tumblr to the Rescue!

On October 8th, The digital media tool Tumblr will hope to impact the courts hearing of McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. The case deals with the capping of political contributions. The FEC is trying keep political contributions capped to avoid certain corruption of politics. With the cap lifted many politicians can receive any amount of direct funds. Many anti-corruption activists are working hard to put a stop to this. while on the other end the Republican National Committee wants to see the cap lifted.

One well-known scholar and political activist is trying to help sway the court, his name is Lawrence Lessig. Lessig looks to route corruption in U.S. politics. He belives that lifting the cap would be very detrimental to our society and will do anything to keep it in place. As an outside expert he can submit an "amicus brief" which allows those not directly involved with the case the ability to introduce valuable testimony to the court.

One portion of his amicus brief will include a blog submitted on Tumblr. The title of the Tumblr is "'Corruption' originally" and it explains the feeling of our founding fathers on the term corruption. Many of the Justices are considered originalists, meaning they take what the constitution to its most literal sense. Lessig believes that if he can sway court members with his definition of corruption many of the originalists will not want to life the cap.

The purpose of the Tumblr is to collect every mention of corruption by our founding fathers who framed the constituion. Lessig hope to prove that the Framer's idea of corruption would want to put a stop to politicians dependency on donors.

A cut out from Lessig's blog:

“If they look to the original meaning of “corruption,” they would see that they have no legitimate sanction for restricting the meaning of “corruption” to “quid pro quo” corruption alone (as some recent cases suggest at least some believe). And if they did not restrict it to “quid pro quo” corruption alone, then the regulation in McCutcheon, which limits aggregate contributions, could be justified: it’s purpose is to limit dependence upon large donors; that purpose is a perfect valid “anti-corruption” purpose, at least in the view of the Framers.”

Comic Strip

Technology related to Civil and Human Rights

Questions for discussion:

How can technology such as the internet interfere with our rights?
How does the class feel about this subject? is the Internet a civil right or is it a human right?
Who do you think should have the power to decide on this?
Do you feel as though the internet should not be under either category? Why?
If the internet is just a tool then what should the information taken from it be considered?

Personal Info

1. William Sowers, Painesville, Ohio, My primary email is wsowers17@jcu.edu
2. Bill, Billy, Will, or william any of those are good
3. My personal interests include reading, watching movies, fishing, and golfing.

Learning style:

1. Usually I would be willing to take many risks in a class. I will most likely try to overcome any challenges in a course.

Technology

1. To me,the most important technological invention has to be the automobile. Cars are an essential part of our lives today. without them our lives would be very different.
2. Technologies that are essential to my life include my e-mail, computer, cell phone, car, and television.
3. I have worked with all three of these different technologies. I would say that I am pretty proficient in these three categories. If i had to rate my technical proficiency I would give myself a 7.

Questions

1. What goals do you have set forth for this class?