Posts for November 5, 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:

Wanted: Supreme Court Justices With Grit [Huff Post, 11/3/15]: Humility. Modesty. Restraint. These words appear again and again in the transcripts of recent Supreme Court confirmation hearings. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evan-bernick/wanted-supreme-court-just_b_8461354.html

Scalia Sticks Up for a Child Pornography Convict [Slate, 11/3/15]: Nino still has a few surprises left in him.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2015/11/supreme_court_lockhart_case_scalia_argues_for_lenity.html

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:

Scalia Takes on Katzmann in Statutory Interpretation Smackdown [WSJ’s “Law Blog,” 11/4/15]: For the past year, Justice Antonin Scalia and Judge Robert Katzmann have been battling for the hearts, or at least the minds, of the judiciary through books presenting competing approaches to statutory interpretation.

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/11/04/scalia-takes-on-katzmann-in-statutory-interpretation-smackdown/

A debate among U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday over the meaning of a federal statute ended with an angry exchange between Justice Stephen Breyer and Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. over the role of members of Congress and their staff.
Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/supremecourtbrief/id=1202741618197/Justices-Cross-Swords-Over-Role-of-Congress-and-Legislative-History#ixzz3qZBwvIw8

California Law Adds New Twist To Abortion, Religious Freedom Debate [NPR, 11/4/15]: The latest front in the debate over religious freedom is all about an 8 1/2-by-11-inch piece of paper.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/11/04/454589142/california-law-adds-new-twist-to-abortion-religious-freedom-debate

Constitution Check: Which birth control case will the Supreme Court choose? [Constitution Daily / Huff Post, 11/5/15]: Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser, looks at the seven cases the Supreme Court is evaluating as the next test cases presented about the Affordable care Act, or Obamacare.

http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2015/11/constitution-check-which-birth-control-case-will-the-supreme-court-choose/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-abortion_563a6bf2e4b0411d306f6276

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Does a President Actually Need to Know Anything? [Justia, 11/5/15]: Professor Buchanan considers the importance of a president himself (or herself) actually having deep knowledge of issues. He draws upon the presidencies of Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, Obama, and others, in concluding that the president’s advisors are crucial in determining the tone of a president’s impact.

https://verdict.justia.com/2015/11/05/does-a-president-actually-need-to-know-anything

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:

Money talks, candidates listen [Calmatters, 11/3/15]: They were members of city councils and school boards up and down California, ranchers and attorneys, Republicans and Democrats, moms and dads – all candidates for the Legislature who’d signed up for this crash course in how things really work. High on the agenda: money.

http://calmatters.org/articles/money-talks-candidates-listen/

Rule change would hide politicians’ disclosures [CC Times, 11/4/15]: The state’s political watchdog agency is mulling a rules change that would mean dropping elected officials’ economic disclosures and “behested payments” reports from its website after seven years – effectively removing them from public view.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2015/11/04/rule-change-would-hide-politicians-disclosures/

Donald Trump led the polls for 107 straight days. Until today. [Wash Post, 11/4/15]: The day has come. After 107 days atop the Real Clear Politics polling average, having taken the title from Jeb Bush on July 19, Donald Trump ceded the lead in the Republican presidential contest to Ben Carson on Tuesday, thanks to a new poll from Quinnipiac University.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/11/04/after-100-plus-days-donald-trump-falls-from-the-polling-average-lead/

This is a great reminder to regularly check in on the “Real Clear Politics” site:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/2016_republican_presidential_nomination-3823.html

Just How Much Gerrymandering Is Unconstitutional? Wisconsin Plaintiffs Want the Supreme Court to Rule [Nat. Journ., 11/4/15]: Advocacy groups and plaintiffs pushing a Wisconsin lawsuit, as well as political scientists around the country, hope to establish a standard for just how much politicians should be allowed to gerrymander political maps.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/92066/just-how-much-gerrymandering-is-unconstitutional-wisconsin-plaintiffs-want-supreme-court-rule

Will State Courts Fill a Void on Voting Rights? [The Atlantic, 11/5/15]: As the U.S. Supreme Court backs away from protecting the right to vote, state judges are looking toward their constitutions.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/will-state-courts-fill-a-void-on-voter-rights/413932/

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

5 things on legalizing marijuana California can learn from Ohio [SF Chron, 11/4/15]: Californians who want to legalize marijuana next year may see cautionary lessons in the way 64 percent of Ohio voters crushed a bid to legalize it there on Tuesday. 

http://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Five-things-Calif-weed-legalization-movement-can-6610795.php?t=6ca5398adf7d4f3860&cmpid=twitter-premium

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

St. Paul’s School and a New Definition of Rape [The New Yorker, 11/3/15]: “…[T]he deeper pity and fear the case inspired revolved around a basic question we increasingly project onto the bodies of our young: What makes sex rape?”

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/st-pauls-school-and-a-new-definition-of-rape

More than a decade after release, they all come back [USA Today, 11/4/15]: Silvestre Segovia had vowed that he would never return to solitary confinement.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/11/04/solitary-confinement-prisoners-impact/73830286/

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:

Presidential primary debates: Free speech as discussion or distraction [Newseum, 11/5/15]: Free speech matters most when we have something worth saying, regardless of whether the views are popular or not. In a political contest, this constitutional right and duty shouldn’t be wasted on trivial talk or spiteful spats.

http://www.newseuminstitute.org/2015/11/05/presidential-primary-debates-free-speech-as-discussion-or-distraction/

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: