Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Posts for January 19, 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.

Constitution Check: Are the states' 'Blaine Amendments' on shaky ground? [Constitution Daily, 1/19/16]: Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser, looks at a case accepted by the Supreme Court related to state tax funds and religious institutions.

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:

Finding Certainty in Cert [SSRN, 1/14/16]: An Empirical Analysis of the Factors Involved in Supreme Court Certiorari Decisions from 2001-2015.

Ga. Supreme Court must decide the value of a dog [Atlanta J-C, 1/17/16]: Death of Lola the dachshund leads to thorny legal question

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]

Supreme Court will rule on President Obama's immigration plan [USA Today / A{ / SCOTUS blog, 1/19/16]: The Supreme Court will give President Obama a final shot at implementing his plan to shield more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. The justices agreed Tuesday to hear the administration's contention that Obama has the power to change immigration policy without going through 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:

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


Senate panel kills bill to decriminalize adultery [Richmond Times-Dispatch / AP, 1/18/16]: A proposal to decriminalize adultery in Virginia was killed Monday morning by a state Senate committee. A legislative panel has rejected a bill to decriminalize adultery in Virginia, one of about a dozen states where infidelity is a crime.

Worse than Death [9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski in the Yale Law Journ., 1/15/16]: For decades, lawyers and activists have questioned the constitutionality of our criminal justice system’s most severe punishments. Is lethal injection okay? What about a firing squad? How about life sentences for pirates or drug possessors or people who pass rubber checks? But we hear remarkably little about what may be the most severe punishment of all: solitary confinement.

Ten Years After Last Execution, California's Death Row Continues to Grow [the Intercept, 1/17/16]: Then years ago today n January 17, 2006, California executed Clarence Ray Allen, the oldest person ever put to death in the state. 

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:

FAN 93.2 (First Amendment News) [Concurring Opinions, 1/19/16]: Review the Court’s 1015-16 docket for 1st Amendment cases.

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:

DeRay McKesson Helps Colbert Address His Privilege [Stephen Colbert’s Late Show” on YouTube, 1/19/16]: Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson gives Stephen a primer in dismantling white privilege. This could start an interesting class discussion….


Substantive due process? [EdLawProfs blog, 1/19/16]: Allegations of Abuse of Students with Disabilities Not Enough to "Shock Conscience" of the 6th Circuit.
The decision, in Domingo v. Kowalski, decided 1/7/16, can be found at:

An Employee Mistakenly Steps Into Politics; Can The Government Retaliate? [Nina Totenberg on NPR, 1/18/16]: The U.S. Supreme Court tackles a case on Tuesday that can fairly be described as weird. The consequences, however, could be significant. The Supreme Court has long held that the government cannot retaliate against its employees for exercising their First Amendment right of free speech or association. But what if the employee is mistakenly perceived as taking a political position, when in fact he was doing nothing of the sort?

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


First Cuba migrants reach US border from Costa Rica [Jurist, 1/18/16]: Approximately 180 Cuban migrants crossed the US border on Friday as part of an organized Central American effort to transport the 8,000 Cubans stranded in Costa Rica. 

Auschwitz paramedic to stand trial in Germany [Jurist, 1/19/16]: A German court on Monday announced that Hubert Z, a 95-year-old German man accused of being an accessory to the murder of 3,681 people at Auschwitz, will stand trial next month. Because of Germany's privacy laws Hubert Z's last name has not been released, but it is known that he was a death camp paramedic that operated as a sergeant in the Nazi SS from 1943 to 1944.



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