1 Prior restraint is defined as government prohibition of speech or publication before it occurs An example of prior restraint would be the case New York Times v United States The Supreme Court ruled that Times s publication of some highly secretive government papers could not be blocked by the government even though the documents were obtained illegally by antiwar activists The Court also ruled that any prior restraint on the press would be declared unconstitutional if the government can provided valid justification 2 Procedural due process is the constitutional requirement that government must follow proper legal procedures before a person can be legitimately punished for an alleged offense The procedural rights are outlined within Amendments Four Five Six and Eight The fourth amendment protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant Amendment five reads that an individual cannot be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself Amendment six provides the legal right to counsel before and during the trial and also an impartial jury of your peers Amendment eight prohibits cruel and unusual punishment of those convicted of a crime I believe these rights apply to all levels of government As citizens of this nation we should be protected in every way possible regardless of the crime we are accused of and or we have committed 3 The Supreme Court has developed test to determine what is considered to be cruel and unusual punishment Our textbook acknowledges that the Court has allowed Congress and state legislatures to determine what the appropriate penalties for crimes I believe an example of cruel and unusual punishment includes cutting off a person s hair for stealing Our textbook states that the Supreme Court has upheld convictions under Michigan and California laws The offenses were law imprisonment without parole for a first offense involving 1 5 pounds of cocaine and life without parole for shoplifting videotapes worth 100 respectively 4 Affirmative action refers to programs designed to ensure women minorities and other traditionally disadvantaged groups full and equal opportunities in employment education and other areas of life The Supreme Court has ruled effectively when affirmative action has come into question An example would be Gratz v Bollinger The Court did not uphold University of Michigan s admissions policy The University automatically granted 20 points to minority applicants The Court declares the policy unconstitutional because it assigned a specific weight to a race 5 Primary elections are a form of election where voters choose a party s nominees for public office Also known as closed primaries they are only limited to voters registered or declared at the polls as members of the party whose primary election is held The idea behind open primary elections allows independents and sometimes voters of the other party to vote in the party s primary It gives voters a say in the choices they will have in the general election I believe proportional systems are fairer than our current system This gives smaller parties the chance to compete for power in legislature Every party should have its opportunity to earn it s way into power The smaller parties could have individuals with better ideas rather than the larger parties 6 7 Candidate centered parties are exactly what the title says they are This party supports the candidate in every way possible They make plans and promises based on their ideas and the party officials have no choice but to get on board with him They devise their strategies choose their own issues and create their own political campaigns Party centered parties are played out via Republicans and Democratic which compete across the country election after election 8 Single member district systems tend to promote two party systems If a single individual can run for a specific position and win then an entire party assuming they have the same values and mindset can run for an election and win 9 European parties use the form of proportional representation as mentioned earlier It allows each party no matter how big or small to be represented in government in their individual countries In the United States we allow only so many people to represent each state in government 10