Posts for July 30, 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:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Reflects On A Polarizing Term One Month Out [Huff Post, 7/29/15]: 'It's hard not to have a big year at the Supreme Court,' she said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ruth-bader-ginsburg-tk_55b97c68e4b0b8499b18536b

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 American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Obama's Clean Power Plan faces tough legal scrutiny [Reuters, 7/30/15]: The final version of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, a major air pollution regulation aimed at curbing carbon emissions from power plants, is scheduled for release on Monday. But the long-term fate of the measure depends on its ability to withstand the inevitable legal challenges from states and industries opposed to it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/30/usa-court-cleanpowerplan-legal-idUKL1N1072BV20150730

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:

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

 

US court says drug-sniffing dog fails the smell test [AP, 7/29/15]: Lex the police dog from central Illinois is far from top dog in drug-sniffing skills. That's the core finding of a potentially influential new ruling from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which considered the question of how much police should rely on their K-9 partners to justify searches when a dog's own competence, as in Lex's case, is itself suspect.

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

Read the 7^th Circuit’s ruling in U.S. v. Bentley at:

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2015/D07-28/C:13-2995:J:Wood:aut:T:fnOp:N:1594846:S:0

 

Don’t look for Latino prosecutors: they are way underrepresented [MyNewsLA, 7/29/15]:  Latinos are underrepresented in the ranks of prosecutors in California, but the percentage of Latino prosecutors in Los Angeles County is higher than the statewide average, a Stanford Law School study out Wednesday showed.

http://mynewsla.com/life/2015/07/29/new-study-finds-latinos-underrepresented-as-state-prosecutors/

 

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:

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: