Monday, October 26, 2015

Posts for October 26, 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:

Cruz: America 'one more liberal justice' away from irrevocable damage [The Hill, 10/25/15]: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says the U.S. of today will become unrecognizable if “one more liberal justice” is appointed to the Supreme Court.

Notorious RBG': The Supreme Court Justice Turned Cultural Icon [Nina Totenberg on NPR, 10/26/15]: Supreme Court justices are generally robed and mysterious figures. Their faces are not emblazoned on T-shirts, painted on fingernails, tattooed on arms and shoulders, and their characters are not parodied on TV programs ranging from Saturday Night Live to Scandal. At least not until Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a cultural icon at about the same time she turned 80. 

Aging Supreme Court energizes Republicans more than Democrats in 2016 race [USA Today, 10/25/15]: Wedged between the Republican and Democratic national conventions next July will fall an event of greater long-term significance for the future of the republic: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's 80th birthday.

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:

[Justia, 10/26/15]: Professor Rotunda the lead-up and history of the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous Dred Scott decision—in which the Court in 1857 held that African Americans could not be American citizens and therefore could not sue in federal court. Rotunda explains how the case progressed through the state and subsequently federal courts, and discusses how the decision affected some of the justices sitting on the Court at the time. 

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:

GOP moneymen: Ryan a fundraising juggernaut [Politico, 10/25/15]: The national network he’s amassed as a vice presidential candidate and from coordinating the national party’s spending in presidential elections give him advantages that even the highly prolific John Boehner didn’t enjoy.

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


Judge's doubling of laughing defendant's prison time upheld [SF Chron, 10/25/15]: Keep a straight face. At least while you’re being sentenced in federal court.

Evangelicals Discover Moral Ambiguity on the Death Penalty [The Atlantic, 10/25/15]:  A new focus on systemic institutional problems reflects the changing demographics of the faithful.

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:


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