Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Posts for December 22, 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:

The Bill of Rights as a Constitutional Brand Name? [Gerard Magliocca, 12/21/15]: Read his paper that “argues that the use of the “Bill of Rights” to describe the first set of constitutional amendments emerged long after the Founding as a justification for expanding federal power.” This is an interesting piece for your history students that challenges our traditional thinking about the "Bill of Rights." You might have students review your text's references to the "Bill of Rights" and have them reconsider them assuming that Professor Magliocca is correct.

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 American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

'Sometimes Progress Is A Little Uncomfortable': President Obama On Identity Politics [NPR, 12/21/15]: In an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep late last week, President Obama spoke at length on the subject of identity. The question of who we are as Americans, Obama said, is at the center of the American experience and has been since the country's founding. 
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/12/21/460558449/sometimes-progress-is-a-little-uncomfortable-president-obama-on-identity-politic?

Obama: Trump exploiting blue-collar fears in campaign [AP, 12/21/15]: President Barack Obama, in a broadside against the leading Republican presidential candidate, says billionaire Donald Trump is "exploiting" the fears that working-class men in particular have about the economy and stagnant wages. 

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:

A Little History That May Help Understand Current Politics [Deven Desai in Concurring Opinions, 12/21/15]: “The current politics around the race to be the Republican candidate for President, ISIS, online speech, campus speech, technology, labor, and more have stuck me has angrier and a bit more irrational than I am used to, so an old essay, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics,” by Richard Hofstadter, caught the author’s eye. Read this thoughtful essay by Desai at:  

The Hofstadter essay (11/1964) is archived at:

Trump beats Republicans, not Clinton, in one-on-one matchups [Reuters, 12/21/15]: Donald Trump would win a hypothetical head-to-head contest against either of his two closest Republican U.S. presidential rivals, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, but he would fall short of beating Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton if the election were held today, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday.

Trump’s attacks on Clinton get very, very personal [Politico, 12/21/15]: The Republican frontrunner mocked his Democratic counterpart for a “disgusting” bathroom trip she made during Saturday night’s debate, and said Barack Obama “schlonged” her in the 2008 primaries at a raucous rally here on Monday night.

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

“No” Means No [Cal.App. Report blog, 12/21/15]: There are so, so many areas in which this is unambiguously true. This is one of them. See the blog post:
You can read the decision in Garcia v. Long at:


Donald Trump supporter arrested on suspicion of threatening Muslims, possessing pipe-bomb device [CC Times, 12/21/15]: On Dec. 4, William Celli stood outside the Islamic Society of West Contra Costa County and yelled "I'm going to kill you all" at worshipers as they left a prayer service, the mosque's leader said Monday.

Fremont terrorism case hinges on intent [CC Times, 12/21/15]: Adam Shafi didn't touch a gun, plot an attack or hurt anyone. But by the time the bespectacled California native and 2011 graduate of Fremont's Mission San Jose High showed up at San Francisco International Airport this summer to board a flight to Istanbul, he had stepped right into the government's war on terror and could end up going away to prison for years. 

Why We Need to Shut Down Juvie [The Marsha;l Report, 12/22/15]: “In my five years running the Washington system, I never saw one white youth in my correctional facility.”

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:

Federal judge orders release of video of police shooting to San Diego media [FAC, 12/17/15]: The judge wrote, “There is no evidence to suggest that the public dissemination of the information from this case currently limited by the protective order could meet this standard [establishing good cause] or that peremptory challenges and instructions to the jury would not be sufficient to obtain a fair and impartial jury.” The video was taken by a security camera. 


The First Amendment, our articles of peace [Charles C. Haynes in the Newseum, 12/21/15]: In 2015, America’s increasingly crowded public square was often filled with hostility, becoming an angry arena where people shout past one another across religious and ideological divides. http://www.newseuminstitute.org/2015/12/21/the-first-amendment-our-articles-of-peace/#sthash.zd95scei.dpuf

Taylor Bell's Message Really Is Getting Out, All-Star List of Rappers, Professors, and Others Join His First Amendment Plea to the Supreme Court [EdLawProfs blog, 12/22/15]: Somewhat in jest, my earlier posts said that Taylor Bell really knows how to get his message out. Taylor Bell is a high school student who was suspended and sent to alternative school for writing and posting a rap song to the internet that outed coaches at his school who were accused of sexually harassing students.

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:

A Momentous, Yet Conservative, Win for Gay Rights [Bloomberg View, 12/21/15]: Reviewing the year at the U.S. Supreme Court, there’s no question that the outstanding historic moment was June’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the court recognized -- or, if you prefer, invented -- a right to gay marriage.

Distinction Without a Difference: Federal Court Says Sexual Orientation Discrimination Is Sex Discrimination [Justia, 12/22/15]: Professor Grossman discusses a recent decision by a federal district court denouncing the legal distinction between sex discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination. 


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