Thursday, September 24, 2015


Posts for September 24, 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:

The Supreme Court's Secret Power [NY Times Op-Ed, 9/24/15]: Monday, the Supreme Court will meet in private to perform one of its most consequential — yet least appreciated — functions: choosing the cases it will hear. The court’s nine justices hold regular conferences from late September to late June to perform this task. From the roughly 8,000 petitions that arrive at the court each year, the justices select about 75 cases. 

Four Votes to Midnight [The Atlantic, 9/23/15]: Interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s long-term trajectory often feels like reading smoke signals in Mandarin, but I gave it a shot after the death-penalty ruling in July.

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:

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:

Republicans 2016: Two Down, 14 to Go: Making sense of a (slowly) shrinking GOP field [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 9/24/15]: Whatever else it is, the Republican presidential contest has become a full employment act for reporters and analysts. 

The Fall of Scott Walker [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 9/21/15]: How the man who could have been both outsider and insider became neither.


Carson says immigrants 'don't get to change who we are' [AP, 9/23/15]:  Speaking at a university in his native Michigan Wednesday, Carson said the U.S. is "Judeo-Christian." He says he has "no interest in being like everyone else and giving away all of our values and principles for the sake of political correctness." 

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)


Fox: The Theologian and the Politician [Fox & Hounds, 9/23/15]: A theologian would not think this way but a politician might—if you have two contrasting bills on the subject of life and death perhaps the middle ground would provide a solution. Governor Jerry Brown—part theologian and all politician—is facing that kind of decision when determining whether to sign or veto the bill tabbed “Right to Die” and another labeled “Right to Try.”

NCLB—a History [Politico, 9/24/15]: Have you ever wondered about the inside story of the No Child Left Behind law? The law is perhaps the most controversial education law ever passed—a sweeping overhaul of Lyndon Johnson’s education act that promised a new era of accountability in schools, but which opponents today blame for infecting education with testing mania.

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
 

Charged With Murder Without Killing Anyone [The Marshall Project, 9/24/15]: The paradox of “felony murder” laws.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/09/24/a-person-can-be-charged-with-murder-even-if-they-haven-t-killed-anyone?ref=hp-1-121 

When the Womb Is a Crime Scene [Mother Jones, 9/24/15]:  Alabama has turned hundreds of pregnant women into felons for using drugs -- even when they're legal and the kids turn out fine.

Life Without Parole: For Juveniles, 5 Tough Counties [The Marshall Project, 9/22/15]: New study places a quarter of the sentences in a handful of urban areas.

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:

Five Quotes: Justice Antonin Scalia Defends Free Speech [Newseum, 9/24/15]: During Justice Antonin Scalia’s nearly 30 years on the Court, he has made his mark in many areas of constitutional law. The First Amendment free-speech clause is no exception.

Pressure Mounts Against Schools' Confederate Ties [EdWeek, 9/23/15]: The racially motivated church shooting in Charleston, S.C., has spurred districts to reconsider school names, mascots, and imagery linked to the Old South. Such moves stir sharp debate.

SLAPP lawsuits: Measuring the threat against a right to petition [Newseum, 9/24/15]: “Short of a gun to the head, a greater threat to First Amendment expression can scarcely be imagined.” — Judge J. Nicholas Colabella (1992) Strong statement or overstatement? The Judge was referring to the threat posed by Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or “SLAPPs”  — lawsuits filed in response to, or in retaliation for, citizen communication with government entities and employees.

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:

International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]


Arizona’s SB 1070 Immigration Law Is Back in Play in the Federal Courts  [Justia, 9/24/15]: Professor Amar comments on a recent decision by a federal district court in Arizona addressing a challenge to two parts of Arizona’s SB 1070 statute, which attempts to deal with immigration stresses in that state. 


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