Author: Guest Author

The First Amendment and Freedom of Speech

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The First Amendment was written in 1789 and ratified (officially approved) on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. When the Constitution was written in 1787, it did not initially include a list of individual rights.

The First Amendment protects your right to think, speak, believe, and gather freely—the main freedoms that make self-government and open debate possible. There have been many lower court and Supreme Court cases that have explored the freedoms under the First Amendment, so it has been reviewed and refined many times since it was created.

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Understanding Immigration Agencies in the U.S.

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By: Tracy Waller, MPH, Esq.

From 1933 to 2002, a federal agency called the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) oversaw the immigration process, enforcement, and border patrol activities. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the U.S. government decided that too many different agencies were handling national security separately.

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Watching the Chainsaw Come For Me

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Cuts to Medicaid and Disability Independence

by Cassandra Brandt

Cuts to Medicaid and Disability Independence- Image of Cassandra - she is sitting in a hot pink wheelchair. She has shoulder length blonde hair with stripes of pink in it, a green shirt, and jeans.

I didn’t have anything to worry about with the threat of cuts to medicaid and my independence, they said. My need is legitimate. My disability is severe.  I’m a C3-4 quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down. I rely on the social safety nets in place: Social Security Disability checks pay my bills and Medicaid and Medicare pick up my hefty healthcare tabs, frequent cab rides to appointments, and caregiver services that allow me to live independently. If these services are cut, so is my autonomy; I’ll be back in an understaffed institution.

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