Thursday, September 11, 2014


ABA and Civics Renewal Network Celebrate Constitution Day 2014 with the Preamble Challenge [ABA, 9/11/14]: See the activities and events:
The theme this year is “The Bill of Rights at 225.”

Update on the Supreme Court [Charlottesville Podcasting Network, 9/10/14]:  Dahlia Lithwick recaps the highlights of the last Supreme Court term and gives a brief preview of the term to come. Check out the podcast.

How Scalia's Beliefs Completely Changed the Supreme Court; And therefore, the country [New Republic, 9/10/14]: Law professor Justin Driver has this review online.

What is a Wave in the Senate? Defining the undefinable as Republican chances inch upward  [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 9/10/14]: For several months, we’ve held steady on our range of expected gains for Republicans in the Senate: a net of four to eight seats. With Labor Day in the rearview mirror and with less than 55 days to go until the midterms, we’re giving Republicans a slight bump: Our new range is a Republican net of five to eight Senate seats.

The death penalty and the matter of factual innocence [Hercules and the Umpire blog, 9/10/14]: “The truth is that many federal judges, and I would suppose many state judges as well, understand that the death penalty has and will continue to result in the innocent being put to death in some small percentage of the cases.” I wrote those words in a post yesterday and a thoughtful commentator responded that such a statement “merit[s] further exploration and discussion.” I agree, and endeavor to do so in this response. Check out the many responses to this posting.

Cal. Governor Signs Paid Sick Leave Law [PERB blog, 9/10/14]: Governor Brown signed AB 1522 (Gonzalez), the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014.”  The law requires, effective July 1, 2015, that employers provide at least three days of paid sick leave per year.

Patricia Young v. Pleasant Valley School District. Listen to the oral arguments in the appeal of the student after the federal jury previously ruled that the school district did not retaliate against student who complained about teacher's methods.
Background to the interesting case can be found at:

HRW accuses Israel of war crimes in Gaza [Jurist, 9/11/14]:  Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] on Thursday accused the Israeli military of committing war crimes over the summer by attacking schools where hundreds of displaced Palestinians sought shelter. The three attacks, which took place on July 24, July 30 and August 3, killed 45 people, including 17 children. 

Supporting teachers is the way to improve schools [Linda Darling-Hammond Op Ed in SF Chron, 9/10/14]: “The recent Vergara lawsuit suggested that eliminating teachers' due process rights is the best way to achieve this. But if it were that simple, the highest achievement would be in the states where teachers lack these rights, mostly in the South. In fact, the reverse is true.”

Lawsuit Challenges School Funding in Mississippi, Others Favor Constitutional Amendment [Ed Law Prof blog, 9/11/14]: In late August, a group of 14 school districts filed suit against the state of Mississippi, alleging that its failure to fully fund the Mississippi Adequate Eduction Program since 2010 is unconstitutional. 

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