Saturday, August 8, 2015

Posts for August 8, 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.

Worsening Teacher Shortage Has Schools Scrambling to Fill Jobs [KQED, 8/7/15]: California school districts have long anticipated they would be scrambling to fill teacher jobs once boomer-age teachers began retiring. But combine that with declining enrollment in teacher credentialing programs and increased state funding for new hires, and you’ve got “the perfect storm.”

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:

Richard Nixon’s Oral Argument [Gerard Magliocca in Concurring Opinions, 8/7/15]: The Oyez Project, run out of the Chicago-Kent Law School, is a terrific resource for Supreme Court scholars.  They have put online the audio of every oral argument going back to 1955, when the Court starting taping its arguments. I’ve been listening to some old ones (mostly out of curiosity), and one that is weirdly compelling is Time, Inc. v. Hill, a 1967 false light case that is still used in casebooks.

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:

Breaking: Divided DC Circuit Queues Up New Major Obamacare Case for Possible #SCOTUS Review [Election Law Blog, 8/7/15]: The D.C. Circuit has rejected a request to take en banc yet another challenge to the Obamacare law, one grounded in the “Origination Clause” of the Constitution (providing that all bills which raise revenue must originate in the House of Representatives). The issue presented in the case is arcane, though perhaps not as arcane as the “established by the state” fight in King v. Burwell, the last Obamacare challenge.  Like King, the question comes out of the rushed and partisan way in which the ACA got out of Congress. Key an eye on this one.
The Circuit opinion denying en banc review is at:

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:

Summer Suspense: California Politics Podcast [KQED, 8/7/15]:  Who knew one week could offer so much political intrigue, from the cloud of scandal to the potential for a 2016 ballot measure smackdown? This week’s California Politics Podcast examines the new chapter of corruption allegations revealed this week in San Francisco, and whether the case — or the media frenzy — has legs.

Why in politics is it OK to call a woman a pig? [McClatchy DC, 8/7/15]:  When is it OK to call a woman a pig, or worse? In the hypercharged partisan state of American politics, it may depend on whether the woman is a conservative or a liberal. 

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:

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:

 

Confederate Memorial Day Muted in Georgia [CNS, 8/7/15]: Confederate Memorial Day and the birthday of Confederate General Robert E. Lee have been stricken from Georgia's official 2016 state holiday calendar. Most state employees will still get days off for both events, but in the wake of recent widespread debate over Confederate symbolism throughout the south, the names of both observances have been changed simply to "state holiday."

No comments:

Post a Comment