Instructions and Rubric

AP GoPo - Current Events Blog Instructions

AP GoPo - Current Events Blog Rubric

Both of these can also be found on Google Classroom.

The Swing Vote Retires (Blog Post Example)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/justice-kennedy-the-pivotal-swing-vote-on-the-supreme-court-announces-retirement/2018/06/27/a40a8c64-5932-11e7-a204-ad706461fa4f_story.html

Justice Kennedy of the Supreme Court will be retiring in July. He served on the court from 1988 to 2018 and is 81 years old. He played the role of swing vote during his tenure on the Supreme Court. There are four conservative and four liberal judges, meaning the decisions usually came down to his vote on an issue. He made landmark decisions on cases, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (campaign finance) and Obergefell v. Hodges (legalized same-sex marriages). His retirement raises the question of who will replace him. Since President Trump will appoint his replacement, it will most likely be a conservative member of the Republican party. The Washington Post speculates that the next big agenda for the Supreme Court will be overturning Roe v. Wade (legalization of abortion), since this was a large part of President Trump’s campaign that appealed to evangelicals (a strong reason for his election).

Is it okay that the Supreme Court can make such big decisions that affect all Americans when they aren’t even elected officials? Should one political party be able to determine such large issues without being liable to American citizens?