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Blog Stage 8

On May 3, 2019, my classmate Estevan Hernandez posted an editorial on the legalization of marijuana in the state of Texas . Estevan did a great job outlining the benefits of decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana by proposing that a move to a civil over criminal penalty would cut out all unnecessary arrests by the police department. Additionally, he discussed the benefits in other states such as Colorado who have decriminalized and legalized marijuana, making “over $266 million dollars”. These facts allow the reader to understand the benefits of legalization of marijuana rather than just for recreational use.   I agree with Estevan that Texas should not be in a rush to approach legalization. Instead, take small steps so conservative Texans could get use to the idea of marijuana before legalizing.   Small steps such as decriminalizing the punishable crime by converting the criminal penalty to a civil penalty are a great solution as a start. Even though ...
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Blog # 7

President Trump’s decision to expand the borders of the wall between the United States and Mexico have not only affected immigrants, some residents of the state of Texas are experiencing federal government abusing their power of eminent domain.   Eminent domain refers to the power of a state or the federal government to take private property for public use while requiring "just" compensation to be given to the original owner. It is unfortunate but the Texas local government has no jurisdiction in regards to eminent domain since federal government holds jurisdiction over each state in the United States. It is evident that President Trump is fixated on creating the borders of the wall. However, the media rarely publishes or covers details of the seizing of private citizens’ properties or instances where the government low-balls the citizens for their property. Currently, the federal government is filing more than 350 eminent domain lawsu...
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Blog Stage #4

Based on the article in the Texas Tribune, the TexasSenate passed a bill allowing school marshals to carry a concealed gun. The article supports the passing of the bill laying out advantages to having an open, concealed gun by qualified marshals in the school system. After last years school shooting in Sante Fe High School, which left ten dead and thirteen wounded, I believe it is a wise decision by the Texas Senate to pass a bill that allows marshals in Texas schools to carry their guns concealed rather than locked up. This bill specifically is intended for the safety of school children. Some argue that it could be “a recipe for disaster” and parents believe that guns should not be easily accessible to students. However, the author, Alex Samuels, does a great job of explaining that the bill allows for marshals to carry in school but it is ultimately up to the local school system to use accordingly, not mandatory by federal law. Although Samuels is a new graduate o...
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Texas Government

A fellow classmate (name not posted) posted an editorial on April 5 th , 2019 regarding Gerrymandering in the State of Texas . They wrote a detailed explanation of the concept of Gerrymandering and the ways it is used to benefit a particular party. In the editorial, they even go into the history of how Gerrymandering came to be and how it used to this day, which allows the reader to fully understand the context before they make their opinion.   This helps the reader to be persuaded by the editorial as it allows us to better understand their opinion through the strength of their argument set out for us.             However, while the classmate did a great job at presenting their argument to stop the practice of Gerrymandering, they made it appear that it was only for the benefit of the Republican Party stating “it is obvious how this divisions are made to reduce the number of Democratic voters”. I believe th...
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