Posts for January 31, 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.

The price of education [CalMatters, 1/30/16]: Schools that handed out tens of thousands of pink slips in the depths of the recession are now scrambling to find qualified teachers, a problem driven in part by low recruitment and high turnover. Teachers are receiving raises and schools are offering signing bonuses. 

https://calmatters.org/articles/the-price-of-education/

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:

None to the Right of Samuel Alito [The Atlantic, 1/30/16]: A decade into his tenure on the Court, Samuel Alito has emerged as the most solidly conservative justice on the bench.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/none-to-the-right-of-samuel-alito/431946/

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:

Loosening money's grip on elections [Rick Hasen essay in the NY Daily News, 1/30/16]: How to change the billionaire-dominated campaign finance landscape, 40 years after Buckley vs. Valeo.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/rick-hasen-loosening-money-grip-elections-article-1.2513936

Ted Cruz Promises To Create The Most Right-Wing Supreme Court In History [ThinkProgress, 1/30/16]: At a packed town hall meeting Friday night in rural eastern Iowa, an audience member asked Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz a simple question: If elected, who would be his first nomination to the Supreme Court?

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/30/3744635/ted-cruz-conservative-supreme-court/

California's primary presidential might make a difference this time [SJ Merc, 1/30/16]: After months of nonstop cable TV chatter and a political story line worthy of an Aaron Sorkin parallel universe, it's finally time for the country to start picking its presidential nominees. But this time might be different -- Californians' votes could really count for the first time in decades.

http://www.mercurynews.com/politics-government/ci_29453901/californias-primary-presidential-might-make-difference-this-time?source=rss

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

The 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals held that a Wisconsin law that requires lifetime GPS monitoring of a formerly civilly committed sex offender, who committed multiple sex offenses against children, neither violates the Fourth Amendment nor constitutes an unconstitutional ex post facto law. The opinion in Belleau v. Wall can be found at:

http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2016/D01-29/C:15-3225:J:Posner:aut:T:fnOp:N:1694901:S:0

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:

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: