Posts for January 15,
2016
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:
Ted Cruz Is a Natural-Born Citizen [The Atlantic, 1/14/16]: Whatever the Founders may
have thought, contemporary law is perfectly clear on this point.
Memorandum: Is Ted Cruz Eligible for the Presidency? [The Atlantic, 1/14/16]: A legal scholar offers a
thorough look at a complicated question.
Bill Cosby and the
Rule Against Character Evidence [Justia,
1/15/16]: Professor Colb discusses the role of Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence
404 in the criminal trial against Bill Cosby. Colb argues that the rule against
character evidence serves a specific purpose in “whodunit” cases (where the
perpetrator is unknown) but that it may serve a different purpose in “what was
done” cases, such as the present case against Cosby.
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:
Argument analysis: Puerto
Rico -- special no more? [SCOTUS blog / Slate / Bloomberg View,
1/14/16]: It doesn’t happen often, but there are
times when the very last words spoken by a lawyer during a Supreme Court
argument sum up very clearly what the whole hour has been about. That
happened on Wednesday, when a lawyer’s closing, plaintive comment
was: “Please do not take the constitution of Puerto Rico away from the
people of Puerto Rico.”
The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Constitution Check: Is the
Supreme Court Obama's silent partner on gun control? [Constitution Daily,
1/14/16]: Lyle Denniston, the National
Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser, looks at Court’s recent
silence on gun issues and some trends in the lower court system.
U.S. justices consider
taking Obama appeal on immigration action [Reuters, 1/15/16]: The nine U.S.
Supreme Court justices were due to meet privately on Friday to discuss whether
to hear President Barack Obama's bid to revive his plan to shield more than 4
million immigrants from deportation, a move that bypassed the Republican-led
Congress.
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:
At Republican Debate, Taunts and Quips as Rivals Battle [NY
Times, 1/15/16]: Donald J. Trump and
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas sharply attacked each other on Thursday night over
the Canadian-born Mr. Cruz’s eligibility to be president and Mr. Trump’s “New
York values,” shedding any semblance of cordiality as they dominated a
Republican debate less than three weeks before the Iowa caucuses.
Constitution Check: What
is the answer to political 'rancor and suspicion'? [Constitution
Daily, 1/14/16]: Lyle Denniston looks at references
made in President Obama’s State of the Union speech, and their relation to a
long-held debate about gerrymandering.
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
Martin Luther King,
Thurgood Marshall and the Way to Justice [The Marshall Project, 1/15/16]: Two towering lives in a prequel to Black Lives
Matter.
Sexual Abuse Verdict
Reinstated by 9th Circ [CNS, 1/14/16]: Clarifying
a federal rape statute, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that "physically
incapable" should not be confused with the narrower "physically
helpless" standard in the case of a man accused of sexually assaulting a
severely disabled woman.
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:
Debate over “Blue Collar” Free Speech and
Union Dues [Newseum,
1/14/16]: Those five freedoms — religion, speech, press, assembly
and petition — are what most Americans “go to work” with every day. We employ
those core rights daily, from the comments we post fearlessly on the Web on
virtually any subject, in the political and social associations we proclaim in
every Facebook post, the office political debates we join in openly, and in the
diversity of religious faiths that a majority of us still choose to adopt.
Supreme Court may weigh in on student off-campus speech
rights [FAC, 1/15/16]: he U.S. Supreme Court
has a chance to clarify students’ First Amendment rights regarding off-campus
online speech as yet unresolved after a number of lower court decisions.
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:
Reconstituting
the Right to Education [EdLawProfs blog, 1/15/16]: Joshua Weishart's forthcoming article, Reconstituting
the Right to Education, is now available on ssrn.
View
the article: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2711910
Teacher misconduct investigations to be focus of state
audit [EdSource, 1/14/16]: At a legislator’s request, the California
State Auditor will audit the cost and results of Los Angeles Unified School
District’s practice of removing teachers from the classroom, sometimes for
hundreds of days, when the district investigates allegations of
misconduct.
No comments:
Post a Comment