MSHS AP Gov

09/19/2020

Rest in power, RBG. We will continue to fight for what you cared about.

It is our turn to pick up the mantle, current and former AP gov students.

07/08/2020

Hello Everyone,

Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on a case that centered on whether religious schools could fire employees for things that in other settings would be considered job place discrimination. Two cases were decided together. I one case a religious school refused to rehire a teacher after she told the principal that she had breast cancer. She sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act for discrimination because of her medical condition. In the other case, a principal suggested a teacher retire. she had taught there from 1999-2015. Her contract was not renewed and she sued for age discrimination.

The Court ruled 7-2 today that the school had a right under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to discriminate in this way. All of our rights exist in "tension" with others. In this case the Court decided Free Exercise of Religion under Amendment 1 "outweighed" Equal Protection of the Law from Amendment 14.

Here is a news article about today's decision:
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-07-08/court-rules-catholic-schools-are-free-to-fire-teachers-who-sue-over-discrimination

Here is a series of articles and info about this case:
https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/our-lady-of-guadalupe-school-v-morrissey-berru/

Stay tuned! Tomorrow the Court will rule in the "biggest" cases for this year - whether President Trump's accounting firm has to disclose his tax returns to Congress and to prosecutors.

Hope you are having a good summer!
Mr. Cole

The Supreme Court of the United States blog

07/06/2020

Hey Michigan! We the voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 3 in 2018 and ANYONE can vote by absentee ballot in ANY election. That is especially important in 2020 with Covid concerns.

Go to https://ballotpower.org to get , fill out, submit, and track your absentee ballot through the whole process.

Do it today! Our next election is the statewide primary on August 4, 2020!

Please share this post!

Absent Voter Application application forms, instructions. Get updates about your Ballot Status.

06/18/2020

Another big ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court!

Chief Justice John Roberts was the swing vote in the 5-4 decision, which deals a big legal defeat to President Donald Trump on the issue of immigration.

06/15/2020

Huge ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court today. These WOULD have been some of our Moot Court cases this April.

A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal law protects gay and transgender workers from job discrimination in a decision that gives millions of LGBT people new civil rights.

06/07/2020

Happy Graduation Day, Seniors!

Today an ore boat was outward bound from the upper harbor at sunrise. Today you are outward bound from high school. You may be living at home for a while, but still high school graduation marks a turning point in life.

I know, this year's official graduation isn't until Friday, but today would have been graduation day and we will have the parade at 2:00 this afternoon. I hope to see you at one or both of these events.

It's heck of a world you are heading into. As we move forward, we will definitely need lots of smart, talented, caring people like you. Here is the link again to "You Are Brilliant and the Earth Is Hiring." PLEASE read it. It was a graduation speech delivered in 2009, but I think fits today incredibly well.https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1078017.pdf

Here is a paragraph that really resonates with me.

"When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet Adrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description. Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses, companies, refugee camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums."

I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to work with each of you this year in AP Gov. I'm sorry our in person time was cut short this spring. I wish you well wherever your path takes you from here. I hope you will stay in touch.

As you enter my classroom the poster reminds you to:

"Be tough, yet gentle,
Humble yet bold,
Swayed always by beauty and truth."

As you head out from MSHS, those are the words I want to leave you with too.

Congratulations, Class of 2020! Best wishes in all that you do!

Mr. Cole

01/31/2020

01/31/2020

01/31/2020

10/08/2019

Thank you to Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist for visiting MSHS today!

04/26/2019

Very grateful to have Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein at MSHS speaking with students today!