Pepper v. United States !!!!

So this morning we got to go to a Supreme Court Case!!!!! The case was Pepper v. United States

      HUGE THANKS TO ALEX YOUNG'S DAD FOR GETTING US IN !!!!!!!!!!!!! 




What's the case about you ask? This! (from http://www.scotusblog.com/)

Issue: (1) Whether a federal district judge can consider a defendant’s post-sentencing rehabilitation as a permissible factor supporting a downward sentencing variance under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a); (2) whether as a sentencing consideration under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a), post-sentencing rehabilitation should be treated the same as post-offense rehabilitation; and (3) when a district court judge is removed from resentencing a defendant after remand, and a new judge is assigned, is the new judge obligated under the doctrine of the “law of the case” to follow sentencing findings issued by the original judge that had been previously affirmed on appeal.

Plain English Issue: May a court consider a defendant’s post-sentencing rehabilitation as a ground for reducing his sentence below the federal sentencing guideline range? When a sentence is vacated on appeal, and a new judge is assigned on remand, must the new judge follow the prior district judge’s sentencing findings? (Kagan, J., recused).

The case was really interesting but I think being able to see/hear the oral arguments was so amazing! The Justices are harsh, they completely grill the lawyers, which on the one hand is entertaining and on the other is like, "oooooooohhh party foul." 

We recently wrote a paper for US history on a Supreme Court Case of our choosing, and mine was United States v. Stevens, a recent case, so it was interesting to see all of the people who I've researched alot about. Elana Kagan, the newest Justice, recused herself though because she was involved with this case in the Dept. of Justice before she was a Supreme Court Justice. But we got to see Sotomayor and everybody else! :)

Being there was honestly just the coolest feeling ever. The room was amazing and just everything was so cool.

One thing that was really funny though is that Justice Clarence Thomas, known for not asking any questions ever, was pretty much asleep laying down on his basically reclining chair the whole time, occasionally blowing bubbles with his gum. He seemed pretty chill....

OUR AMAZING WEEKEND: Part 2: AU, Talent Show, Hide/Seek and Ice Skating!

Saturday:
On Saturday a few of us went to American University for a tour. It seemed really cool. I'm not sure if I'd want to go there personally but the campus is amazing and it seems like a really cool school.

Then we came home and prepped for the Talent Show!

Then we actually went to the Talent Show!!! Which was at the school

The Talent Show was so much fun! Everyone did at least one thing and there were such amazing and funny acts. I had to do a skit/play with my spanish class called "El Delantal Blanco" and I also dougied to "Teach me how to factor" and sang a few Jewish Songs and a Christmas song with the other SEGL Jews! :)

After the actual talent show we had a giant dance party and it was amazing! We were at the school til like midnight :)

Sunday:
On Sunday, a few other people and I went to an exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery called "Hide/Seek" about how different artists in history portray different sexualities and how Homosexuality, Bisexuality etc. have been portrayed by different artists. It was a really amazing exhibit and the pictures were really powerful.

After the exhibit, we met the other SEGLets at an ice skating rink and went ice skating! Well....I watched, but it was still alot of fun! Ice skating's just not for me, but watching it is I guess! :)

On Sunday night, Arielle and Shayna's Moms came over and made Latkes! I was so happy about that because I missed Latkes so much and Sunday was my family's Chanukah party which I couldn't go to so I was really glad I still eat Latkes!


So basically it was an unbelievable weekend :)

OUR AMAZING WEEKEND: Part 1. Friday-Grand Strategy

Friday: Grand Strategy with Henry Pederson




Our Academic Dean/History Teacher/ coolest person ever's son, Henry, came in to do a presentation about Grand Strategy. Henry worked at SEGL last year. The issues that we talked about don't usually come up until Grad School, he said.

He talked to us about strategy, especially Grand Strategy for the U.S with the question in mind, "Should the US have a grand strategy, and if so, what should it be?"

We talked about the Social Contract (a philosophical sort of thing that we've talked about before) and how the ethical job of a state is to protect the rights from which the social contract is based, and basically, protect the social contract.

With a Social Contract, you have to give up certain rights to gain certain rights. For example, you have to give up the right to murder in order to have the right to not be murdered. Being a part of the US, we are part of a Social Contract.

We talked about how it's not always what's ethical, but what's less wrong, and what is part of our social contract. For example, something he said that was really interesting is that he would submit to us that the US not getting involved with the Rwandan Genocide was the ethical thing to do. Rwanda's not in our social contract, but getting involved risks American lives, which are the ethical responsibility for the US to protect. I thought that was really interesting. Maybe it's ethical to not get involved based on the Social Contract, but is it right not to get involved? Which one's less wrong? Those are questions that went through my head.

We talked about the different theories of international relations, such as Idealism/liberalism, Constructivism, and Realism. I feel like I'm an Idealist by nature, but in reality I'm more of a constructivist.

Game:
We played this really cool game that taught me alot, even in the first couple of minutes.
It was a kind of war simulation game, and playing it made me understand war so much better. I'm not going to explain the details of it, but it was a great simulation game. Henry told us that for every $1.50 we made in the game, he would pay us twice that (or something like that). The last round we agreed to not kill anyone else (for the game) but the second round, something killed someone (I was the one who got killed actually :( ) That person started a chain of aggression, and only 3 out of the 16 of us got any money, as opposed to if we actually kept peace, we all would've got money.

The simulation made me think alot about Israel. and how The fear of being the victim turns you into the perpetrator ( I am definitely coining that). This was demonstrated by the last round of the game. One girl got "tanks" to protect herself because she thought she was going to be killed, but because of that fear she ended up being the perpetrator who started the aggression.

Again, The fear of being the victim turns you into the perpetrator. 


We were faced with questions like, should the US:
torture, if only one hour of torture could save 100,000 people?
use nukes?
intervene in a conflict?
give foreign aid?
Support a dictator?
Hunt down Julian Assange?
etc. etc.

While ethical, these questions can only be answered accurately if we have a clear grand strategy.


This week we'll be continuing out discussion about the US' grand Strategy, and we'll be doing some cool things to figure it out :)

Math Lab!

So we're doing this really cool lab for math about Social Security!

I can't believe I'm excited about something that has to do with math, but hey! First time for everything!

It's a 5 day lab, and it's going to be super awesome!

Today we learned all of these fancy definition things that have to do with Social Security and I already feel so much more informed!

I'll keep you updated on what we're doing :)

Tom Adkins and our Non-Profits!

Our non-profits are coming along now...phew! Most of us have a pretty good idea of what we're doing. I think I'm personally pretty set for what I want to do, I just need to work out some logistics.

Preview of my non-profit (DA DA DAAAAAA):

It will be called Activism Consulting for Teens (ACT) and like the name implies, it will consult and mentor teens throughout Massachusetts on how to effectively support causes they care about. 

   But that's just part of it.....There's still more to come... !

Today Tom Adkins, Social Entrepreneur and founder of Open Organizer, which helps non-profits with technological things, came in to talk to us!

He talked to us his experience with non-profits and about what we need for our non-profits. He specifically talked alot about asking for help. He said that asking for help is crucial in creating and sustaining a successful Non-Profit Organization. He talked about the type of people we want to reach out to, such as the obvious family, friends, and mentors, but also people like key strategic supporters, fundraisers, and media personality. What he said really makes sense and I feel like it will really help me during the process of making my non-profit.

Alot of what he said seemed very familiar to me because I've worked with non-profits for a while, but having what they do kind of spelled out was really interesting to me.

Back at SEGL!

So yesterday most of us got back to SEGL. Some people got back today, and there's still some getting back later today... I think.

Today was our first school day back. It was really good. During Ethics and Leadership in the morning we talked about our Social Venture projects in more depth, and we're starting to work on our Ashoka worksheets. Ashoka Youth Venture gives our organizations money to help start them up if we do all the required stuff, which is pretty cool.

I'm pretty excited about my idea, and feel like it's finally coming along :)

We're starting finals soon which is ridiculous!!! What?!?!?!? I can't believe it! Finals soon and only 3 more weeks!!! AHHHHH!!!!! But I'm trying to live in the moment and not think about it...but still!!!


P.S.
While I was back in Needham for Thanksgiving Break I was on this show thingy talking about SEGL and Civil Rights. That night, it was Richard Cole and I on the show. Richard Cole is a super cool Civil Rights Attorney in Massachusetts who started the safe schools initiative and is a member of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. It was awesome to meet him!

If you want to see the interview you can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9hCsexknjE

Back to SEGL tomorrow :)

Tomorrow it's back to SEGL! 

I'm really excited to go back, but also kind of nervous. I think it's because I just kind of got settled in back in Needham, and now I'm leaving. Going back and forth anywhere is really weird for me. So ya....

But I'm mostly excited :)

Thanksgiving Break

So right now I'm back home in Needham for Thanksgiving Break. We're on break until the 28th....I think.

It's really weird to be back, and not in a D.C. It's kind of like a big shock. I definitely needed a little break, but I'll already be ready to go back in a few days :)

P.S. Today I was looking at colleges online, and none of them looked appealing to me whatsoever. I realized that's because they're not in DC. So now I've pretty much realized I would only want to go to college in DC. But I also haven't even looked at colleges yet so I could be wrong....I just have to wait and see I guess.

Policy Paper

Today we turned in our final drafts of our policy papers....phew!!!! Every group turned in their section, my section again is recommendations for civic society. We still have to make a few more edits tomorrow before it's super final. We have to get our final edits in by midnight tomorrow because we're going to the Premiere of Harry Potter at midnight in Gallery Place Chinatown! YAY! I can't wait to see it.

The policy is going really well I think! It's really interesting and doing research about the issue is really fascinating to me. The issue of sex trafficking is really complex, but also simple at the same time. There are many factors to it, but at the same time the factors of it aren't unsolvable. There just needs to be a major effort to solve the issue.

Tomorrow we're going to decide who to present our policy to! :)

Longacre Reunion!

    So yesterday I went to Philadelphia with Dana (a friend from Longacre) for the Longacre Reunion! Longacre is the summer program I've gone to in Pennsylvania for the last 4 years and it's pretty much my favorite place ever.
    We got there about a day and a half late, because I had to work on some things Saturday morning, but it was worth it. We watched slideshows, movies, and Marcel the Shell (the best youtube video ever)! It was so awesome to see my friends from Longacre. I was really happy to see people and catch up.
    This morning Dana and I had to get up early to get on a 9:45 am bus :(. But we slept most of the bus ride so it was all good.

Now I'm back for SEGL.