Moc Trial Blog Post Portion

 

Monday, September 21, 2026

Why I Believe John Mann Should Have Been Convicted: A Prosecutor's Perspective on State v. Mann

The Controversial Case of State V Mann.

Introduction

    As the attorney representing the State of North Carolina in State v. Mann, I believe the North Carolina Supreme Court should not overturn John Mann's conviction. Many will say that slavery is legal and that what John Mann did was protected by the law, but in North Carolina in the year 1829, a person is not allowed to use unlimited violence against another human being without facing consequences under the law, especially when that person does not own the slave who was harmed.

    The facts of this case are very clear. Lydia, an enslaved woman owned by Elizabeth Jones, had been hired out to John Mann. During his attempt to punish her, Lydia fled. Mann pursued her and shot her, leaving her wounded. A lower court has already found that his actions were excessive and convicted him of battery. 

As the State's attorney in this case, there is only one issue that the court must decide, and it is not whether slavery exists. But rather, it is whether there are legal limits on violence. I would argue that there must be and that there already is. If the law allows one person to shoot another without accountability simply because that person is enslaved, then the courts have abandoned their responsibility to protect justice and maintain public order.

A precedent that supports my position is the case of State v. Hall(1829). A case in which courts were willing to examine cases involving violence against enslaved people. If courts could review such cases, then courts clearly had the authority to determine when punishment becomes criminal conduct

Argument

    

    I would also like to state the fact that John Mann was not Lydia's owner. He had merely hired her from her owner. That distinction is the most important aspect of this case. Throughout American and English law, temporary possession does not create unlimited authority. A person renting or borrowing property cannot destroy it without consequence. Yet Mann injured Lydia by shooting her and then claimed that his position entitled him to complete immunity. The lower court has already correctly rejected that argument.

    Another reason I believe Mann should be convicted is that the Supreme Court's decision in this case, if not guilty, will create a dangerous precedent. If the courts recognize unlimited authority in this case, where does that authority end? If a person can shoot an enslaved woman and avoid criminal punishment, what prevents even greater acts of violence in the future? A legal system that places no limits on power invites abuse.

    I would further argue that if the decision today is not guilty, it will violate the spirit of constitutional principles that were meant to limit arbitrary power. Although enslaved people have tragically been denied many rights under the law during this time, the broader purpose of American government was to prevent unchecked authority. The idea that any individual could possess absolute power over another person runs contrary to these principles. While constitutional law does not provide equal protection to enslaved people, I believe the court should recognize that unlimited violence is inconsistent with the rule of law.

    What strikes me most about Judge Ruffin, a North Carolina Supreme Court Justice, in the case of State V. Hall was that he acknowledged how troubling the decision was. He admitted there was a struggle between his personal feelings and what he believed the law required. Yet he concluded that the institution of slavery depended upon absolute authority. In my view, that is exactly why the conviction should have been upheld. If a legal system requires unlimited violence to function, then the courts should question that system rather than strengthen it.

Conclusion

As the lawyer for the State of North Carolina, my conclusion is simple. John Mann should be convicted. The facts established that he shot Lydia. Earlier precedent such as State v. Hall showed that courts could review violence involving enslaved people. No individual should possess unlimited power, and no person should be above accountability for excessive violence. By overturning Mann's conviction, the North Carolina Supreme Court will have placed the institution of slavery above the principles of justice and legal responsibility.

AI Disclosure: I used Claude.ai as an assistant for research findings and for writing my blog post. I used key terms like "I am a college student" and "use professional style writing rather than heavy academic style" in my prompting for this script. I found and embedded the images, while Claude.ai wrote the script.

Fredrick Douglas Blog Post

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Fredrick Douglas: The Voice That Refused To Be Silent

Frederick Douglass in Scotland: Slavery, Speech and Political Awakening

I am Frederick Douglass

    Good evening, everyone. My name is Frederick Douglass, and I stand here at this town hall meeting as a man who was born into slavery in the state of Maryland around the year of 1818. I do not know my exact birthday because slavery has denied me and many others that right. As a child, I was separated from my mother and forced to do labor for others, and was treated as mere property rather than as a human being. Yet despite all of the circumstances I had to overcome, I was still able to learn how to read and write, and because of that, education it changed my life forever.

      As a young man, I was able to uncover many truths this world had to offer, but none more valuable than the truth that terrified slaveholders. That "Knowledge is what makes a man unfit to be a slave." Once I learned to read, I began to understand the injustice of slavery and the true meaning of freedom. That is why I have often said, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." As those words reflect my own experience and the power that education has to break chains that iron alone cannot hold. [frederick-...ritage.org]

Portrait taken of Frederick Dogulas while he was writing.

  Why I Oppose Slavery

    The reason I am speaking against slavery today is because I have lived it. I know what it means to see families separated, to feel the sting of the whip, and to be denied thoes rights that others can call God-given. Slavery is not merely an economic system. It is a moral wrong, and it strips any human beings involved of their dignity.

    
    Some will argue that slavery should continue because it is profitable or because it has existed for generations. I reject those arguments. No tradition can make injustice right. No amount of wealth can justify treating people as property. In my autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, I described the cruelty of slavery so that Americans could no longer ignore its reality.

My Message To The Nation

    Throughout my life, I have used speeches, books, and newspapers, all with the main purpose being that of challenging slavery. I have founded The North Star and an anti-slavery document because I believed the truth has to be spoken openly. As all silence does is protect oppression. 

    One lesson I learned is that freedom will never be handed to people willingly. As I once declared, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." If we desire justice, we must be willing to struggle for it. That is why I also said, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." I did not write these words merely for the people of my generation but for every generation that seeks liberty.

Photograph of Fredrick Douglas taken in Washington, DC

A Call To Action

    Today, I have one ask for you: choose freedom over slavery, justice over oppression, and equality over prejudice. I want you to judge slavery not by the wealth it creates for a few, but by the suffering it inflicts on millions.

    
If there is only one thing you leave with today, let it be these words. "Power concedes nothing without a demand." Let us demand freedom. Let us demand justice. And let us ensure that slavery is buried forever in the dustbin of history.''

AI Disclosure: I used Claude.ai as an assistant for research findings and for writing my script. I used key terms like "I am a college student" and "use professional style scripting rather than heavy academic style" in my prompting for this script. I found and embedded the images, while Claude.ai wrote the script.

Eight Values

 Thursday, September 10, 2026

Eight Values- Check On Governmental Power

The Founding Fathers dividing powers between the States and Federal Government 

 The eight values of free expression: I believe are huge parts of what shapes our government now and have huge impacts our daily lives. 

    Government checking power, also called the watchdog role, is one of the only things keeping our society somewhat normal today. 

    Compared to all of the eight values of expression, I believe that checking on Governmental power is the value that resonates most with me because without it, there will be a constant push for more and more power within government. Which in turn, would lean us farther and farther away from the system of government we currently have, where the power belongs to the people.

    One of the most important parts that goes into the checking of government power is the freedom of the press.  The freedom of the press serves one of, if not the largest, parts in checking government power, as while many people often think of the press as simply reporting the news, the press serves a much greater purpose. The free press helps keep government officials accountable by exposing abuses of power and informing the public about what their leaders are doing. It is one of the most powerful tools when it comes to checking government power and is a necessity in maintaining how we are informed and make decisions based on the information. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/vincent-blasi/ 

        

    

    History has also provided several examples of a watchdog-style role in action. Where the press and the public discover examples of the government trying to obtain more power. One of the most famous examples is the Watergate scandal during the 1970s. Where investigative journalists uncovered information about illegal activities connected to President Richard Nixon's administration. As more facts became public, citizens and governments were able to hold officials accountable. Watergate is one of the many cases that demonstrated how journalists can reveal abuses of power that might otherwise remain hidden from the public.https://www.fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/watergate

    Another example of this could be the Iran-Contra affair, and then you also have the various investigations that involved President Bill Clinton's administration, which only further illustrate the importance of a free press. In each case, journalists helped to inform the public about actions taken by government officials. This gave citizens the chance to make a infromed opoion on the situatuon rather if they agreed or disagreed with the conclusions, the information also allowed them to participate in a democratic government with much greater knowledge.

    The watchdog role is not just limited to major political scandals. Reporters can and do regularly investigate issues involving public spending, government transparency, law enforcement practices, and ethical conduct by elected officials. These investigations help ensure that government actions remain visible to the people who have the power and ultimately grant the government authority.

  

  To conclude, the checking function reminds us that freedom of the press is about more than protecting journalists. It is about protecting the public's ability to monitor government power. When the press is free to investigate and report, citizens are able to better equipped to recognize examples of wrongdoing and demand accountability. Due to this the press is able to serve as one of if not the most important elements of mantaing checks and balances that in turn helps to preserve democratic government. As a final point, I believe that the free press is valuable because it helps check the abuse of power by public officials and keeps citizens informed about the actions of those who govern them. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/vincent-blasi/ 

Bible Team Challenge

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

Bible Team Challenge 

  

The Bible and it views on Slavery

 Intro

    In class today, we were asked to find religious arguments in favor of slavery and religious arguments against it. In this blog post, we will establish how traditional religions like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all viewed slavery. Throughout this blog post, we will talk about how these religions' views on slavery have changed and/or progressed over time. Ultimately, we will explore each religious argument, what they believed, and how those beliefs have changed or stayed the same over time.

Slavery & Religion

Pro Slavery 

    One of the main arguments that I can make for the bible being pro-slavery, mainly in the 1800s, is that, in the Bible, slavery had been accepted by many religions and was seen as something righteous. Take, for instance, both the religions Judaism and Christianity, where believers in these religions often point to biblical passages that allow slavery rather than banning it. For example, Leviticus 25:44-46 states that the Israelites could acquire slaves from surrounding nations and pass them down as inherited property. [biblegateway.com]

    Also, to further expand on the bible supporting slavery, you can point to Ephesians 6:5-6, where Paul instructs slaves to obey their earthly masters. Given this information, it is very easy to argue that if slavery were against God's will, the Bible would have directly condemned it instead of giving instructions about how slaves should behave and how their masters can treat them. [biblegateway.com]

    In Islam, slavery was also historically permitted and regulated, much as it was in other ancient societies. For centuries, followers of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam generally viewed slavery as a legal and accepted institution.

    But over time, like many things, people's interpretation of these texts has changed. Take, for instance, the abolitionist movement, where many Christians argued that the Bible's larger message was about justice, freedom, and human dignity. Rather than focusing on verses that regulated slavery, they focused on principles of equality and love for others.

Today, most Christians reject slavery and view the Bible's teachings about human worth and freedom as being incompatible with the practice. This debate shows how religious texts can be interpreted differently as societies and moral values change over time.

  Slavery

   Anti Slavery

    One of the most compelling arguments in favor of the Bible’s opposition to slavery in the 1800s is that it portrays freedom as a virtue that is supported by several different religions. Those who adhere to the religions of Christianity and Judaism, for instance, frequently cite biblical passages that prohibit the practice of human trafficking. It is written in Exodus 21:16 that anyone who kidnaps and sells another person should be put to death according to the law. Galatians 3:28, which emphasizes that all people are one in Christ Jesus, provides additional support for the Bible’s position that it is against slavery. If the institution of slavery had been in accordance with the will of God, the Bible would not have protected fugitives from their owners but rather would have returned them to them.

Islam has, in the past, worked to abolish and discourage the practice of slavery.

Throughout the centuries, the emancipation of slaves was regarded as a sacred act in the religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. On the other hand, interpretations of these texts have developed over the course of time. 

The movement that advocated for slavery asserted that the Bible placed a higher value on legal rules and hierarchy than it did on equality. 

As a result of their belief that it is incompatible with the teachings of the Bible regarding freedom and human worth, the majority of Christians in today’s society are opposed to the institution of slavery.

 The following discussion illustrates how different

interpretations of religious texts can be made in response to shifting moral standards and societal norms. 

                                                        Church View on Slavery

    

Conclusion

    In conclusion, the 1800s slavery argument demonstrates how traditions were used to support and refute slavery. Biblical verses regarding hierarchy and legal restrictions were cited by pro-slavery activists, while verses about freedom, equality, and the ban on kidnapping were cited by anti-slavery activists. Both sides thought they were right and were adhering to their religions.  This relates to our study question that religious texts were understood variously in response to shifting social norms and moral standards rather than having a single, unchanging meaning.

AI DISCLOSURE: AI was used in a limited way in the assignment; I took ample notes while watching a twenty-minute video about the US Supreme Court. I then personalized those notes by adding my point of view, for example, things I learned or found surprising.  I then used Claude.AI to help me clean up the text for grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and I also asked the tool to help me shape it into the form of a blog post.  I then edited the text, added links, and added images with captions.

Wendsay Septmeber 2nd, 2026 

Supreme Court History

Supreme Court Video Notes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRoXYRsaeo

The Supreme Court's Long and very
Complicated History;

Every president who has ever sat in the Oval Office has always tried to leave there mark on the Supreme Court through nominations. Nominations are one of the ways a president's can have a lingerning influence that can outlast their own time in office.

Through my research I was able to learn that; since the Supreme Court's Founding, there has only been only 116 justices that have served. With the average term laststing around 16 years with plenty of justices doubling that number throughout history and by doing so helping to shape the law for there generation and the future generation.

John Marshal, Chief Justice, 1803

Even though becoming a Supreme Court Justices is one of the most prestige jobs in the United States Governemnt there has been some justices that have left huge impacts compared to there fellow justices.One of thoes people who left a huge impact was Supreme Court Jutices John Marshall was the first Justice to declare an act of Congress unconstitutional, which in turn establish the Court's power of judicial review in a way that its role today is clear and conscie.

But there has been many ruling that have not aged well one being the Dreed Scott case.

The Dred Scott decision is one of the most widely regarded cases and many view as the Court's biggest mistake. The outrage following the court ruling regarding the case costed the Court to lose significant public trust and authority and this case showed that even the nation's highest court is still able to get cases wrong and they are not alawys correct.

A lot of what goes into what makes the Court's job so difficult is its founding document itself. Supreme Court Justice are tasked with one of the hardest jobs one can have in the United States Government interpreting a constitution that is over 200 years old and with centuries-old language and idologys they have to use this to dispute modern cases and look at these cases with diffrent perspectives, morals, and knowledge its authors never could have imagined.

This is where many oral arguments tend to happen and come into the picture.

Attorneys job is not just to argue before the Court they need to have logical sounding arguments that are not just sound, but are persuasive and in turn powerful enough to sway the way justices' are thinking in real time.

And once a decision is made, it never stays quiet for long becuase as the most powerful court in the United States Government every decision they make is looked at with microscoped eyes.

After a decision written opinions are almost always immediately released to the press, and within hours and sometimes even minuets depending on how popular the case is the ruling is already on air or in print, becoming world wide news almost instantly.

What The Supreme Court's history really is a story about power: who shapes it who has the power to challenge it, and how fragile its power can wavery when something goes wrong.

AI DISCLOSURE: AI was used in a limited way in the assignment; I took ample notes while watching a twenty-minute video about the US Supreme Court. I then personalized those notes by adding my point of view, for example, things I learned or found surprising.  I than used Claude.AI to help me clean up the text for grammar spelling and punctuation, and I also asked the tool to help me shape it into the form of a blog post.  I then edited the text added links and added images with end captions.