This assignment will require you to use your critical thinking skills in evaluating how the concept of federalism interacts with various current constitutional debates. In the prompt for the Final Research Paper (located in Week Five of your online course or the Components of Course Evaluation section of this guide), you have been provided a list of current constitutional debate topics. Select one of these topics for this assignment and create a hypothetical personal opinion article (op-ed) for your local newspaper. In this op-ed, you must take a position supporting or opposing the issue you select. Even though you will be choosing a side, you must discuss both sides of the argument and then provide a logical argument why your position is valid, credible, and should be supported.

Your paper should be organized into the following sections:

Introduction
Discussion/claims supporting your position
Discussion/claims against your position (counter-arguments)
Summary argument supporting your position

Select one topic from the following list of constitutional issues:

Regulation of commerce
Religious freedom
Free speech
Privacy rights
Equal protection under law