Blog Post 4.2 - "Due Process!"

1. Those having been accused have not been deprived of life or liberty. In the question of the loss of property through the loss of a job, due process is not applicable to the situation because no legal action has been started. Instead, an organization or government can decide to terminate someone for an accusation if the accusation is believed to be credible, and if Porter or others like him wish they could file for wrongful termination, in which the underlying accusations would likely receive the full due process of the law. 
2. Legal actions begin with charges, that then require proof, leading to a judicial decision. 
3. The government cannot charge you with a crime or take other action against you without notifying you of the charges or proposed action, and you must be given the opportunity to present your side of the story to a neutral fact-finder before action is taken. 
4. The person accused of a crime always has the right to be heard, but not necessarily to be believed. 
5. Journalists have to hear the other side by confirming their stories and seeking responses from those accused, making sure that everything is well-sourced and well-documented. 
6. Legal due process is well-defined, if varied. It has a general definition as the right of an individual to be heard before the imposition of punishment or penalties by the government. Cultural due process, on the other hand, may be influenced by legal ideas but is really just a reaction to perceived unfairness, abuse, or oppression. 
7. Roy Moore seems to have used the term "due process" to avoid public judgment on his conduct without actually offering reason to reach any conclusion other than a negative one. 
8. Typically, due process requires some kind of hearing or procedure to prevent the government from arbitrarily depriving some of a life, liberty, or property interest. Basically, it requires that a person be heard.
9. Substantive due process, according to Tidmarsh, is a bit more controversial (it's what Roe v. Wade is based on), since it is not clear how much the Constitution requires this kind of due process. Procedural due process is clearer in that it requires the government to observe certain procedural protections before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property. 

Blog Post 4.1 - "Midterm Predictions"

1. Conor Lamb's win is unusual because Donald Trump won that district by more than 20 percentage points. 
2. Democratic swing is the difference between the special election results and the district's partisan lean (which is itself the difference between how the county voted and how the country voted in the last two presidential elections).
3. The Alabama special election for the Senate saw the largest Democratic swing, followed by the special election for Kansas's 4th Congressional District and Pennsylvania's 18th.
4. Generic ballot results show a slight lead for Democrats - by only 8 or 9 percentage points - compared to the 16 or 17 percentage point average that Democrats have led by in the special elections. The discrepancy is because generic ballot polling is conducted among registered voters or all adults, not actual voters. 
5. 60 percent of Democrats say they have a high degree of interest in the midterm elections, whereas 54 percent of Republicans say the same thing. 
6. The Republican Party poured $9 million into the campaign, and had Trump campaign there days before the election. They also focused on their tax cuts and sanctuary cities. 
7. Trump's approval ratings are now at 43%, 4 percentage points higher than it was in January. 
8. Voters seem to disapprove of the Republican Party at this point in time. Most of this disapproval may be directed to the "establishment," or congressional Republicans, rather than the President, considering the uptick in his approval ratings.