Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Posts for October 27, 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 Justice Sonia Sotomayor leads Pomona College class during visit [Inland Daily Bulletin, 10/22/15]: It’s not every day that you can say a sitting U.S. Supreme Court justice is leading your class — but for a select few at Pomona College that’s exactly what happened Thursday.
You can see her speaking at Pomona College on YouTube:

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:

Motor voter: An electorate in flux [Capitol Weekly, 10/26/15]: To Democrats, it’s the long-overdue removal of a barricade to full participation in California’s civic life. To Republicans, it poses a danger that a flood of illegal immigrants will start participating in political decision-making.

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)


Congress, White House reach two-year budget deal [Wash Post, 10/27/15]: House Republican leaders introduced legislation just before midnight on Monday, finalizing a two-year budget agreement between Congressional leaders and the White House.

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


Confessions of a Grand Juror [The Marshall Project, 10/27/15]: Ten days in a room with 22 other jurors. What could possibly go wrong?

Resource Officer's Violence Toward Student Raises Fundamental Question That Most Miss [EdLawProfs Blog, 10/27/15]: The question here should not be whether the resource officer used reasonable force.  The question should be why he was in the school to begin with and why, at this very moment, he was the one directed to resolve the situation.

How Satan Came to Salem [The Atlantic, 11/15 issue]: The real story of the witch trials.

Death Penalty Reversed Over Black Juror Exclusion [Trial Insider / Cal Appellate Blog, 10/26/15]: The question here is whether the prosecutor improperly used a peremptory challenge to dismiss the only African-American in the juror pool. Interesting case, with a split decision, on a hot topic.
The 9th Circuit opinion in Crittenden v. Chappell can be found at:

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:

California campus intolerance policy stirs free-speech fight [AP, 10/26/15]: Students, professors and activists wrangled at a public forum Monday over how best to address intolerance at the University of California, with some Jewish groups arguing the schools should adopt a policy with a more precise definition of anti-Semitism and others saying it would stifle free speech. 

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:

How family wealth really works in America: An explainer for Donald Trump [Wash Post, 10/27/15]: This isn't just nitpicking at would-be presidents for their verbal gaffes. Disparities in intergenerational wealth transfer in America are a significant part of the gap between the haves and have-nots. They're also an important piece of lingering racial inequality in America.

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