Posts for September 15, 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:

Declarations vs. Bills of Rights [Gerard Magliocca in “Concurring Opinions,” 9/14/15]: There are many famous Declarations of Rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1789, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, and the English Declaration of Rights in 1689. Other canonical texts, most notably the first set of constitutional amendments, are described as bills of rights. What is the difference?

http://concurringopinions.com/archives/2015/09/declarations-vs-bills-of-rights.html

A Shifting Balance at the California Supreme Court? [Cal Lawyer, 9/15]: A look at the state Supreme Court's newest justices.

http://www.callawyer.com/2015/09/a-shifting-balance-at-the-california-supreme-court/

A Look Back on the Supreme Court's Turbulent 2014 Term [Cal Lawyer, 9/15]: An analysis of the year's biggest Supreme Court decisions by Doug Kmiec.

http://www.callawyer.com/2015/09/a-look-back-on-the-supreme-courts-turbulent-2014-term/

Anthony Kennedy, Supreme Court justice: History's swing vote [Politico, 9/14/15]: Same-sex marriage became the law of the land, and the 79-year-old Kennedy, a Ronald Reagan appointee, cemented his status as an unlikely but steadfast hero for gay rights—and the author of one the court’s most progressive and sweeping decisions in decades.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/politico50/2015/anthony-kennedy

See the "Justice Stephen Breyer Interview" from last night's broadcast of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj2yh6QJJJk

The introduction to this, “Better Know a Breyer,” can be seen on YouTube at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uziCZg0_8U

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:

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:

Fiorina leverages Trump’s insult into web video [CC Times, 9/14/15]: Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is turning rival Donald Trump‘s insult into a talking point.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2015/09/14/fiorina-leverages-trumps-insult-into-web-video/

Can Donald Trump Be Stopped? [Bloomberg, 9/15/15]: The frontrunner is a genius at attack, and completely invulnerable so far. So much of the GOP is searching for a way to turn him into a mere mortal.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-09-15/can-donald-trump-be-stopped-

Crime, Fear, and the Republicans [The Marshall Project, 9/15/15]: Can the GOP interest in criminal justice reform survive Donald Trump?

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/09/15/crime-fear-and-the-republicans?ref=hp-1-111

Price Tag of Bernie Sanders’s Proposals: $18 Trillion [WSJ, 9/14/15]: Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose liberal call to action has propelled his long-shot presidential campaign, is proposing an array of new programs that would amount to the largest peacetime expansion of government in modern American history.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/price-tag-of-bernie-sanders-proposals-18-trillion-1442271511

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:

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:

Demand that mother remove home video from YouTube backfires [SF Chron, 9/14/15]: A music company’s demand that YouTube take down a 29-second home video of two children dancing to a song by Prince backfired Monday when a federal appeals court used the case to make it harder for copyright-holders to act against brief, non-commercial uses of their material.

http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Demand-that-mother-remove-home-video-from-YouTube-6503900.php

District Court Refuses to Protect Transgender Student's Rights [EdLawProfsBlog, 9/14/15]: Gavin Grimm has been fight with his school in Gloucester County, Virginia, for the past year to be able to use the boy's restroom. Gavin had previously been allowed to use the boys' bathroom, but when religious and other concerned groups discovered this, they came out in heavy opposition and the school board then banned his use of the boy's restroom. 

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2015/09/district-court-refuses-to-protect-transgender-students-rights.html

 

When One Door Opens, Another Closes:Parentage Law After Obergefell v. Hodges [Justia, 9/14/15]: Grossman discusses the evolving landscape of parentage law after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision inObergefell v. Hodges. Grossman argues that while Obergefell has opened up some new paths to parentage for same-sex couples, it has also closed off others that had been created as workarounds in a restrictive marriage regime.

https://verdict.justia.com/2015/09/15/when-one-door-opens-another-closes