Posts for July 10, 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 (5th ed.) student textbook.
I.
Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5th edition of Constitutional
Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to
this unit:
Supreme Court 2014 Term Review [C-SPAN, 7/8/15]: The American
Constitution Society hosted a review of the major cases and rulings from the
2014-15 Supreme Court term.
Judicial
politics: Those 'activist' judges [The Economist, 7/9/15]: The justices’ turn to the left is more likely an anomaly than an enduring trend, with the fate of
affirmative action and public-sector unions looking shaky when the justices
take up challenges to both in the next term.
The
Illusion of a Liberal Supreme Court [Linda Greenhouse in the NY Times,
7/9/15]: For one, brief
shining moment — that is to say, last week — there was a liberal Roberts court.
II.
Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5th
edition of Constitutional Law] Here are recent articles that are
relevant to this unit:
Louisiana Supreme Court justices
denounce same-sex marriage ruling, calling it an 'insult,' 'utter travesty'
with 'horrific impact' [Baton Rouge Impact, 7/8/15]: The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday
passed on issuing a full opinion in a same-sex couple’s case seeking marriage
and adoption rights, noting the matter has already been settled by the U.S.
Supreme Court. But several justices still took an opportunity to denounce the
high court’s recent ruling.
What
Does Marriage Equality Have to Do with Dred
Scott? [New Yorker, 7/8/15]: They can do same thing that Abraham
Lincoln did about the Dred Scott decision
of 1857,” Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, said, speaking of
what conservatives might do about Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme
Court decision in favor of marriage equality. “He simply ignored the ruling and
said, ‘That’s not correct.’ ”
The
American Presidency
[TOPIC 15]
The Next
Big Case Challenging Obama's Executive Power [TPM Café, 7/8/15]: The collision between the Obama
Administration and the courts continues, even though the Supreme Court in King v. Burwell rejected
the attempt to gut Obamacare. Next up: the lawsuit to invalidate the
president’s executive action on immigration.
III. The Political System: Voting and
Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5th edition of Constitutional
Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:
Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)
U.S. Senate takes on overhaul of NCLB [NSBA Legal Clips, 7/8/15]: CNS reports that The
U.S. Senate began debating a bill on Tuesday that would replace
portions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and give states more power to
evaluate their school systems.
IV. Criminal Law and Procedure (4th,
5th, 6th, and 8th amendments) [See TOPICS 21-28 in the 5th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent
articles that are relevant to this unit
V. 1st
Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5th
edition of Constitutional Law] Here are
some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:
Students disciplined for tweets celebrating Hitler’s
birthday file free speech suit against California district [NSBA Legal Clips, 7/9/15]: The Acorn
reports that Scotland Yannello and Jared Pollard, students at Oak Park High
School (OPHS), are suing Oak Park Unified School District (OPUSD), OPHS, and a
number of OPHS and OPUSD officials alleging that the defendants violated their
constitutionally protected free speech rights by disciplining them for
off-campus tweets celebrating Hitler's birthday.
VI. 14th
Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5th edition of Constitutional
Law]
Here are some recent articles that are
relevant to this unit:
Ninth Circuit rules that student was
not eligible for special education services under IDEA despite suffering from
autism [NSBA Legal
Clips, 7/7/15]: In an unpublished memorandum opinion, a U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit three-judge panel ruled that a student suffering from
autism was not eligible for special education services under the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The ruling in D.A. and J.A. v. Meridian Joint School District can be found at:
http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2015/07/06/14-35081.pdf
May It Displease the Court: Race and
Justice Sotomayor
[ProPublica, 7/8/15]: A book on Justice Sotomayor reveals the bruising
backstory to the Texas affirmative action case set to be heard again this fall.
http://www.propublica.org/article/may-it-displease-the-court-race-and-justice-sotomayor
International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
U.S. court: citizenship law's gender differences unconstitutional [Reuters, 7/8/15]: A U.S. law that
treats mothers and fathers differently in determining whether their
foreign-born children may claim U.S. citizenship is unconstitutional, a federal
appeals court ruled on Wednesday, four years after the U.S. Supreme Court split
4-4 on the issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment