Posts for April 18, 2015

These are the posts that are accumulated in our newsletter which goes out every 4-6 days during the school year. The posts are organized by the major units in our Con Law (5^th ed.) student textbook.

I. Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

II. Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

The Second Amendment Doesn't Say What You Think It Does [Mother Jones, 4/17/15]: Michael Waldman pokes holes in claims that the Constitution protects an unlimited right to guns.

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/second-amendment-guns-michael-waldman

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Federal appeals court to take up Obama's immigration action [AP, 4/17/15]: As demonstrators gathered Friday outside a New Orleans federal courthouse, appellate judges were preparing to consider whether to lift a temporary hold imposed by a federal judge in Texas on President Barack Obama's executive action seeking to shield millions of immigrants from deportation.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IMMIGRATION_LAWSUIT

Court chilly to Barack Obama immigration moves [Politico, 4/17/15]: It's likely the White House will have to take its case to the Supreme Court within days.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/court-chilly-to-obama-immigration-moves-117104.html

III. The Political System: Voting and Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

 

Fox: Don’t Rush to Make New Law [Fox & Hounds, 4/18/15]: Politicians often overreact to news items, rushing to propose laws to prevent future occurrences of a situation or grab the limelight when problems will go away on their own.

http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2015/04/dont-rush-to-make-new-law/

IV. Criminal Law and Procedure (4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th amendments) [See TOPICS 21-28 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

V. 1^st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Amen, Canada! [Slate, 4/17/15]: The Canadian Supreme Court, unlike the United States' Supreme Court, understands that sectarian prayer is sectarian.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/04/saguenay_prayer_decision_canadian_supreme_court_forbids_sectarian_prayer.html

VI. 14^th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Preview on same-sex marriage [SCOTUS Blog, 4/18/15]: This is Part IV of Lyle Denniston’s series, “Supporting the state bans.”

http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/04/preview-on-same-sex-marriage-part-iv-supporting-the-state-bans/

Women in the world: Where the U.S. falters in quest for equality [CNN, 4/16/15]: We prefer to think of our country as an example of what is possible. But there are ways in which the United States lags behind other nations -- sometimes in principle; other times in practice. And some of those ways may surprise you.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/us/american-women-world-rankings/index.html