Posts for January 6, 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:

How the High Court Could Shake Up the 2016 Campaign [Nat. Journ., 1/5/16]: From immigration to abortion to the power of unions, the Supreme Court is entering this election year with a full plate of politically charged cases.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/127027/how-high-court-could-shake-up-2016

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:

Abortion case at Supreme Court gets personal [USA Today, 1/5/16]: The most important Supreme Court battle over abortion in a generation took on a starkly personal tone Tuesday as scores of women — including lawyers, doctors and elected officials — came forward to tell the justices their own stories of ending pregnancies.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/05/abortion-supreme-court-choice-women-kennedy/78304022/

California Lawmakers Prep Gun Control Bills [CPR, 1/5/16]: Democratic Assemblyman Mike Gatto, who represents Glendale, wants people on the government’s no-fly list to also be banned from buying guns in California.

http://www.capradio.org/63809

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Obama Can't Hold Back Tears While Unveiling Gun Control Actions [Huff Post / Politico / AP, 1/5/16]: "Fort Hood, Binghamton, Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, the Navy Yard, Santa Barbara, Charleston, San Bernardino. Too many," the president said in an impassioned speech.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-gun-control_568b03bce4b014efe0db7356

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/obama-gun-restrictions-217354

http://www.dailynews.com/article/20160105/NEWS/160109760

Obama issues 'executive orders by another name' [USA Today, 1/5/16]: President Obama has issued a form of executive action known as the presidential memorandum more often than any other president in history — using it to take unilateral action even as he has signed fewer executive orders. When these two forms of directives are taken together, Obama is on track to take more high-level executive actions than any president since Harry Truman battled the "Do Nothing Congress" almost seven decades ago, according to a USA TODAY review of presidential documents.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/16/obama-presidential-memoranda-executive-orders/20191805/

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:

How Ted Cruz Became Ted Cruz [Politico, 1/5/16]: In just a few years, he turned an obscure Texas legal post into a national platform for red-meat conservative causes.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/ted-cruz-supreme-court-conservative-213497?paginate=false

A Third Party In 2016? [Fox & Hounds, 1/5/16]: Pollster Scott Rasmussen let the cat out of the bag with his presidential preference poll in late December: the American public believes Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be the Democratic and Republican nominees, but they don’t really want to elect either of them.

http://www.foxandhoundsdaily.com/2016/01/a-third-party-in-2016/

California businessman pushes ballot measure for NASCAR-style disclosure [Politico, 1/5/16]: Business executive John Cox, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House and Senate in Illinois, has moved one step closer to placing an initiative on the ballot that would require state legislators to wear the emblems of their top donors. 

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/california/2016/01/8586846/california-businessman-pushes-ballot-measure-nascar-style-disclos

CA Citizens Get to Vote on ‘Citizens United’ [Trial Insider, 1/5/16]: California voters will finally get to tell Congress how they feel about the Citizen’s United ruling allowing unlimited independent campaign contributions.

http://www.trialinsider.com/?p=6065

V. 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 

Trump Inadvertently Highlights Restroom Inequality [Justia, 1/6/16]: Professor Colb draws upon recent comments by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in order to explore the sexism of having a separate “ladies’ room.” Colb responds to two of the most common objections to unisex restrooms and calls upon more people to demand them in public places.
International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]

Walters: What sales should be tax-free? [Sac Bee, 1/5/16]: As the Legislature reconvened this week, Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia quickly introduced a bill to exempt female hygiene products from sales taxes

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/dan-walters/article53202605.html

A 2015 advance: Tribal prosecution of non-native abusers [Huff Post / Arsenal for Democracy, 3/6/15]: This story is now 10 months old, but is just getting some serious play: Two years after Congress reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act, Native American tribes can finally take advantage of one of the law's most significant updates: a provision that allows tribal courts to investigate and prosecute non-Native men who abuse Native women on reservations.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/06/vawa-native-americans_n_6819526.html

http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/2015/12/30/a-2015-advance-tribal-prosecution-of-non-native-abusers/#.Vow8xorF9bw

The Absurdly Harsh Penalties That Sparked the Oregon Rancher Protest [Reason.com, 1/4/16]: A federal judge rejected mandatory minimums for Dwight and Steven Hammond as unconstitutional; an appeals court disagreed.

https://reason.com/blog/2016/01/04/rancher-arson-case-that-inspired-oregon

Texas' top criminal court halted far more executions in 2015 [Dallas M-N, 12/31/15]: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted an unprecedented number of execution stays in 2015, the first year on the court for three judges elected in 2014.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20151231-texas-top-criminal-court-halted-far-more-executions-in-2015.ece

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:

FAN: Another License-Plate Case —and an update [Concurring Opinions, 1/6/16]: Some interesting First Amendment cases on the forefront.

http://concurringopinions.com/archives/2016/01/fan-92-first-amendment-news-another-license-plate-case-wooley-v-maynard-defense-raised-in-cert-petition.html

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:

https://verdict.justia.com/2016/01/06/trump-inadvertently-highlights-restroom-inequality

Public preschools attempt to accommodate diverse languages of students [EdSource, 1/5/16]: Teacher Lien Nguyen got up in front of a class of 3-year-olds and gave a lesson typical of a preschool: Where are your eyes, nose and hair? But Nguyen did something not heard in most classrooms: She repeated each body part in Vietnamese.

http://edsource.org/2016/public-preschools-attempt-to-accommodate-diverse-languages-of-students/91899

U.S. Attorney's Office Says New York City Rampant with Schools Inaccessible for Students with Disabilities [EdLawProfs blog, 1/6/16]: Just before the holiday break, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York sent a letter to New  York City Schools demanding that they come into compliance with federal disability law. 

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2016/01/us-attorneys-office-says-new-york-city-rampant-with-schools-inaccessible-for-students-with-disabilit.html

U.S. discounts constitutional issue on immigration [SCOTUS blog, 1/5/16]: The Obama administration used only a brief footnote in a new filing at the Supreme Court to try to steer the Justices away from ruling on the constitutionality of President Obama’s year-old policy to postpone deportation of more than four million undocumented immigrants.

http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/01/u-s-discounts-constitutional-issue-on-immigration/