Posts for November 17, 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:
Do
Supreme Court Justices Need Litmus Test? [Bloomberg, 11/16/15]: The executive branch isn’t the only
thing on the line during the 2016 Presidential election. The judiciary — in
particular the U.S. Supreme Court — is too, panelists said at a Nov. 12
Federalist Society event.
Justice Scalia: No Constitutional Right of Parents on
Children's Education [School Law
Blog, 11/17/15]: In a speech to law students,
the justice says the parental right to direct the upbringing of children finds
no support in the 14th Amendment.
Why Israel's right wing is gunning
for nation's Supreme Court [CSM, 11/16/15]: Democracy activists say reasoned critiques
of controversial court decisions have given way to incitement; A security
detail has been assigned to the justices
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:
The US Supreme Court may make
abortion the deciding factor in 2016 [The Guardian (U.K.), 11/16/15]: The justices decided to
take a case that could mean the end of Roe v. Wade just four months before
voters choose their next president.
Supreme Court Landmark Case Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer [C-SPAN, 11/16/15]: Professors Michael Gerhardt and William Howell talked about the 1952 U.S. Supreme Court case Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer, in which the court limited the power of the president to seize property when it ruled 6-3 that President Truman lacked the authority to seize steel plants in order to avert a labor strike in the midst of the Korean War. Of course, this case is summarized at PROBLEM 14.7 of our Con Law student text!
The
American Presidency
[TOPIC 15]
Presidential candidates
criticize Obama's Islamic State strategy, but theirs sound similar [LA Times, 11/16/15]: From the intensity of their rhetoric, the
candidates seeking to replace President Obama might sound like they have
policies for combating the Islamic State militants that are dramatically
different from his. So far, they don't.
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:
Sanders knocked off
stride by foreign policy focus [Politico,
11/16/15]: Bernie Sanders didn’t sign up for a foreign policy election. Yet
that's exactly what he's getting in the wake of the Paris attacks, a shift
that's turned the primary contest — temporarily at least — into a test for
commander in chief.
Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)
Syrian refugee fight
sparks government shutdown threat [Politico,
11/16/15]: A cascade of Republicans on Monday implored the Obama administration
to scrap plans to resettle 10,000 Syrian refugees in the United States next
year, saying they pose an unacceptable security risk in the wake of last week’s
terrorist attacks in Paris. And, in a dramatic twist, the sudden standoff is
raising the possibility of a government shutdown next month.
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
Forensic
Pseudoscience: The Unheralded Crisis of Criminal Justice [Boston
Reviews, 11/16/15]: This past April, the
FBI made an admission that was nothing short of catastrophic for the field of
forensic science. In an unprecedented display of repentance, the Bureau
announced that, for years, the hair analysis testimony it had used to
investigate criminal suspects was severely and hopelessly flawed.
‘Outrageous Government Conduct’ [The Crime Report, 11/16/15]: Is It OK when the government makes up crimes to catch
criminals? What if they’re not criminals?
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:
Justice
Antonin Scalia Questions Logic Behind Gay Rights Protections [NY
Times’ “First Draft” blog, 11/16/15]: The Supreme Court’s decisions protecting gay rights were not
rooted in the Constitution, and their logic could as easily apply to child
molesters, Justice Antonin Scalia told a room filled with first-year law
students at Georgetown University on Monday.
Lesbian
mother asks U.S. Supreme Court to review Alabama Supreme Court adoption ruling [Birmingham (Al.) News, 11/16/15]: A woman on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to
review an Alabama
Supreme Court decision refusing to recognize a Georgia court's recognition
of her adoption of her lesbian partner's three children.
International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Poll Shows Students Don’t Want Reich Refugees Here [Harvard Crimson, 12/14/1938]: Jewish refugees should not be admitted to the United States
in great numbers, a large majority of college youths in this country believes,
according to the first national poll of the Student Opinion Surveys of America.
[See this article from the 1938 Harvard
Crimson.] Timely. Worthy of discussion.
Bosnia police arrest 3
accused of war crimes [Jurist, 11/17/15]: Sarajevo lawyer Ibro Merkez and Gorazde police
commissioner Esef Huric are alleged
to have illegally detained and imprisoned 100 Serbs in the city of Gorazde at
the beginning of the war in 1992.
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