Posts for January 26, 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 (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:

A 'view' from the courtroom: No snow day here [SCOTUS blog, 1/25/16]: With a blizzard forecast for the Eastern Seaboard, the Supreme Court announced on Friday that opinions could be expected on Monday, the last day scheduled public session before a four-week recess.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/01/a-view-from-the-courtroom-no-snow-day-here/

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:

Gen X, millennials abound, but oldies decide elections [Capitol Weekly, 1/25/16]: California is in the midst of major generational and cultural changes. Nationally, we see the increased influence of Millennials on our culture and waning influence of the Greatest Generation and Silent Generation. 

http://capitolweekly.net/generational-trends-millennials-boomers-genx/

Clinton and Sanders Address Voter Skepticism at Iowa Democratic Forum [Bloomberf, 1/25/16]: Hoping to persuade undecided Democrats with just a week until the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders took on some of the questions that have most dogged their candidacies, from trustworthiness and e-mails to feasibility and socialism. 

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-01-26/clinton-and-sanders-address-voter-skepticism-at-iowa-democratic-forum

Bernie Is Not the New Obama—And That’s a Good Thing [Dissent, 1/25/16]: Bernie Sanders’ surge in recent national polls, and hints he might win both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries, have brought inevitable comparisons to an insurgent candidate whose enthusiastic young supporters took Hillary Clinton by surprise eight years ago. 

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/bernie-sanders-not-new-barack-obama

Saunders: Greed is Hillary Clinton’s Achilles’ heel [SF Chron, 1/25/16]: When Bernie Sanders hits rival Hillary Clinton for taking humongous speaking fees from big banks — notably the $675,000 Goldman Sachs paid her for three speeches while she eyed the Oval Office — he struck Clinton’s Achilles’ heel. Both the former secretary of state and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have cashed in since they left the White House in 2000. 

http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/saunders/article/Greed-Hillary-Clinton-s-Achilles-heel-6783244.php

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

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:

With the End of Desegregation, Twenty-five Percent of Wichita Schools Are One-Race [EdLawProfs blog, 1/26/16]:  The result is that one in four Wichita schools are one-race schools.  In 2013, the district applied for and received a magnet school grant from the U.S. Department of Education. 

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2016/01/with-the-end-of-desegregation-twenty-five-percent-of-wichita-schools-are-one-race.html

Smoke and Fire Over Religious Claim for 'Sacramental' Marijuana [CNS, 1/26/16]: An Oregon branch of the Native American Church claims the United States illegally seized its sacramental marijuana - but national church leaders disavow the validity of the branch's affiliation and say marijuana has never been a part of its rituals.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/01/26/smoke-and-fire-over-religious-claim-for-sacramental-marijuana.htm

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:

Detroit Public Schools Can't Block Sickouts [CNS, 1/26/16]: Deteriorating Detroit Public Schools cannot temporarily restrain teacher absences via "sickouts" that have closed dozens of schools this month, a Michigan judge ruled.

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/01/26/detroit-public-schools-cant-block-sickouts.htm