Friday, January 15, 2016

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.

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. 




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