Presidential Pardon Controversy

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump pardoned several people who were convicted of white-collar crimes(crimes that are financially motivated and non-violent) and among those who were pardoned was the former governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. 8 years ago, Rod Blagojevich was convicted on numeral federal charges that included his attempt to sell Barrack Obama's vacant seat in the Senate after he became president. President Trump spoke to reporters about his reasons to pardon Rod Blagojevich, "He served eight years in jail, a long time. He seems like a very nice person, don't know him(Trump)." Under Article II of the Constitution, it is stated that the president has this unique power of pardoning people. The president does not need approval from anyone to pardon someone, it does not pass through congress nor does it pass through anything else; the president is completely in control of who does and doesn't pardon. Others who were pardoned include former San Francisco owner Edward DeBartolo who pleaded guilty in 1998 for failing to report that he was extorted. Commissioner Bernard Kerik who committed tax fraud and made false statements and Michael Milken who pleaded guilty to felonies involving securities and tax fraud are just some of the white-collar criminals who got pardoned by President Trump. President Trump's motives were questioned and it's being questioned whether he was looking to soften how the public viewed these crimes. With the power to pardon, President Trump does not have to depend on others to decide who should and shouldn't get pardoned. Brian Kalt, a Law Professor at Michigan State University said, "He just declares it and it happens, and it's a guaranteed headline(Kalt)." The presidential pardon has allowed many people to leave jail much quicker than they should have according to the sentences they were given. Read this article and answer the following questions:

Do you think the people who committed the white-collar crimes(tax fraud, bribery, etc.) and got pardoned by the president should've been pardoned? Why or why not?

Do you think the president should have the constitutional power to pardon? Why or why not?

Do you think presidential pardons could be used in a corrupt way? How could it or How could it not?

Have you ever felt like you got away with something that deserved to have a greater punishment than you received?

Coronavirus controversy

          Coronavirus, a virus that has "literally only existed on planet Earth in humans for maybe two months,"-Kenneth T. Cuccinelli, is escalating quick. Thousands of people in china have been diagnosed in the past few days, and Americans are being brought from Wuhan, the Province where this virus all began, to a military base. While this is meant to help their sickness, this very well could be creating a more serious risk, and although being quarantined is crucial to prevent the virus, being put with 200 other Americans, could cause the disease to spread, and could allow a larger risk. China may be doing joint quarantines, but in the U.S self-quarantine is being relied on. There are too many Americans returning from China to have that responsibility. On Monday, the U.S had only 11 confirmed cases. Although compared to China this amount seems miner, getting rid of the virus is no easy task. "I am going stir crazy," says Claire Campbell, a college student recently diagnosed with the disease. The extent that the U.S is going, to prevent any non-Americans from entering the country if they have been in China is excruciating. For example, a Canadian attempting to enter the U.S by foot was recently sent out of the country due to his travel to China in nearby weeks. Additionally, the Federal Government has recently directed air carriers to prevent anyone who has traveled to China in recent weeks from boarding any American flights. As Coronavirus is becoming more serious, and a bugger risk, there is a major controversy, debating how to deal with the virus, and how to go about getting rid of it. Answer the following questions:

Do you think people should be quarantined all together, or separate?

Why do you think the U.S is going to more extreme measures than China, or other countries?

What do you think should happen next? What should be done to fully prevent the virus?

Have you ever gone to school sick and regretted it?