Academics in the news

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Supreme Court to rule on your First Amendment right to silence

Robert Sedler, a professor of law at Wayne State University, examines the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and people’s right to remain silent. Supreme Court Justices have previously ruled that the government cannot compel people to speak its message or associate with ideas they do not hold. The Supreme Court will decide two right-to-silence cases this term. “The First Amendment protects a person’s right to convey his own message, to voice her own ideas and not to be compelled to publicly disclose personal beliefs and associations,” he said. “When the government tries to compel a person to speak its message, these rights are seriously damaged. The right to free speech is likewise violated when people are required to associate themselves with an idea with which they disagree.”
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Will Trump's withdrawal from Iran deal make the U.S. a 'pariah state'?

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would pull out of the Iran nuclear deal. The multi-nation agreement was designed to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear armament in exchange for the elimination of sanctions against the country. The Iran deal was the result of a long negotiation process during the second term of President Barack Obama. Trump said the agreement’s 10-year life span was part of its inherent flaws, and that the United States will be safer pulling out of the agreement. Trump has explained how leaving the deal would make the U.S. safer. In fact, many experts say exiting the Iran deal only creates instability in an already fragile region, and hobbles the ability of the United States to negotiate agreements with other nations in the future. Wayne State University senior lecturer of Near and Middle East history and politics Saeed Khan agrees. “There’s no wisdom in this,” says Khan. “It…calls into severe question America’s credibility around the world in adhering to any deal beyond one presidential administration.” Khan says the move could even “aptly designate America around the world as a pariah state.” 
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(Column) Americans' enthrallment with British royalty

Janine Lanza, associate professor and director for the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program at Wayne State University, examines the intense interest many Americans have in the affairs of British royalty. “Our history and Constitution forbid noble titles from taking hold in this country. American culture traditionally prizes individual achievement and accomplishment rather than status conferred by birth,” she says. “However, the pomp and ceremony of Old World royalty have captivated a country with a brief history and no traditions to rival the pageantry that marks such royal events.”