Doughnut... Mess With Me

The morning session of class today went off with a bang, as we discussed the freedom of religion clause stated in the First Amendment. We went over four cases: Abbington School District v. Schempp, Lemon v. Kurtzman, Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, and Church of Lukumi Babulu Aye Inc. v. City of Hialeah. All four of these cases covered one of the most important principles in an efficient democracy: the separation between church and state. In all cases, the government intruded on the people's right to freely express their religious association. 

The battle soon erupted in the afternoon session of class. Not an actual battle filled with swords, guns and knives, but a battle filled with eloquence and intelligence. We started our debate in the middle of the first hour of class with our case, Smith v. California, up first. I gave my group's opening statement stating that Smith's arrest on the basis of disorderly conduct was inapplicable in this case, as the definition of disorderly conduct in California Penal Code 647 describes disorderly conduct on other terms such as prostitution, loitering, sqautting, public intoxication etc. Our group based our main arguments on the fact that Smith's actions were protected by former Supreme Court rulings such as Texas v. Johnson. After an intense battle of words, we concluded by reinstating our main points and bringing up the concept of Stare Decisis.

Afterwards, I hung out with my fellow cohort members, Alyanna and Deborah. With a full afternoon filled with almost nothing to do, we decided to go to Times Square once again to just explore the streets. We stopped by a local drug store really quickly as Alyanna had to take care of some logistical issues. Deborah and I wondered the store looking for something to amuse immature selves with until we came across the toy section. Like the mature high school students we were, we picked up some styrofoam swords and fought to the death!

TO THE DEATH!

Once we got to Times Square, we decided to take different routes to explore. After some light walking we decided to drown the stresses and sorrows of our first two weeks into some Dunkin' Donuts. We ordered all the kinds of gut busting diabetics sweets you could think of- from Oreo Milkshakes to over a dozen doughnuts. Each doughnut offered a variety of many different zests, formulating a great sense of satisfaction with each bite.

Oh Good Lord...