Posts for December 2, 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.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor Joins the Board of Civics Education Group [School Law Blog, 12/2/15]: The U.S. Supreme Court justice will help promote iCivics, the education effort featuring games and lesson plans launched in 2009 by retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2015/12/justice_sotomayor_joins_the_bo.html

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-supreme-court-justice-sonia-sotomayor-joins-board-of-icivics-nonprofit-founded-by-sandra-day-oconnor-to-reinvigorate-civic-education-300185685.html 

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:

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:

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:

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

The County: the story of America's deadliest police [The (U.K. Guardian, 12/1/15]: Police in Kern County, California, have killed more people per capita than in any other American county in 2015. The Guardian examines how, with little oversight, officers here became the country’s most lethal. 

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/01/the-county-kern-county-deadliest-police-killings

Supreme Court Landmark Case Mapp v. Ohio [C-SPAN, 12/1/15]: Professors Long and Hutchins talked about the 1961 Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio, in which the Court applied, via a 5-4 decision, Fourth Amendment protection against “unreasonable searches and seizures” to state criminal cases

http://www.c-span.org/video/?327718-1/supreme-court-landmark-case-mapp-v-ohio

Judge rules school district not liable in arrest of special ed student in drug sting [EdSource, 12/1/15]: In 2012, it was called Operation Glasshouse, an undercover drug investigation at three Riverside County high schools that resulted in the arrest of 22 students. Two years later, it was known as the high school drug sting that caused some California school districts to lose their enthusiasm for high school drug stings. 

http://edsource.org/2015/judge-rules-school-district-not-liable-in-arrest-of-special-ed-student-in-drug-sting/91180

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:

Revisit the Clear & Present Danger Test? [Concurring Opinions, 12/2/15]: “The Intensifying focus on terrorism, and on Islamic State in particular, poses a fresh challenge to the greatest American contribution to the theory and practice of free speech: the clear and present danger test. In both the United States and Europe, it’s worth asking whether that test may be ripe for reconsideration. . . .” [This could be a great essay topic. For your students….]

http://concurringopinions.com/archives/2015/12/fan-87-first-amendment-news-sunstein-urges-revising-holmess-cp-test-in-our-terrorist-times.html

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:

Preview of Oral Arguments in Fisher v. Texas [EdLawProfs Blog / SCOTUS blog, 12/2/15]: There are many sources for such previews. Check out:

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2015/12/preview-of-oral-arguments-in-fisher-v-texas.html

http://www.scotusblog.com/2015/12/argument-preview-whats-at-issue-in-the-fisher-case-this-time/#more-235369

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

Rights Group Calls for U.S. Torture Prosecutions [CNS, 12/1/15]: Approaching the one-year anniversary of the partial release of the Senate "torture report," a human rights group told the government and its foreign allies they must prosecute those complicit with the abuse of detainees.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/12/01/rights-group-calls-for-u-s-torture-prosecutions.htm

Feinstein at center of move to restrict visa-free travel to U.S. [McClatchy DC, 12/1/15]: Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California is leading a push in the Senate to tighten restrictions on foreign travelers to the United States in the wake of the Paris terror attacks, but tourism leaders in California and nationwide argue that Feinstein’s proposal goes too far.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/article47430155.html