Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Posts for March 29, 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:

This is what a per curiam decision looks like:

U.S. Supreme Court Asks Parties for Paths to Settling Religious Contraception Case [WSJ, 3/29/16]:  Move suggests high court may be seeking to avoid 4-4 tie on a ruling.

Supreme Court's Split on Union Dues Could Be Harbinger of More Deadlocks [WSJ, 3/29/16]:  Tie underscores how much one justice can affect the direction of closely divided court.

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:

Court seeks new way to decide birth-control cases [SCOTUS blog, 3/29/16]: The Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon, looking for a new way to spare religious non-profit institutions from any role in providing birth-control techniques for their employees even while assuring that those services are available, asked lawyers on both sides of seven cases to make new proposals on how both might be done. 

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:

Trump’s delegate danger [Politico, 3/28/16]: He’s beating Cruz at the ballot, but he’s months behind in the battle to make those wins count at the convention.

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


Samuel Alito's Sixth Amendment Denialism [Slate’s Supreme Court Dispatch, 3/28/16]: The Supreme Court justice only accepts the reality of American legal history when it aligns with his judicial ideology.

Court to rule on scope of retrial power [SCOTUS blog, 3/28/16]: The Supreme Court on Monday stepped back into the long-running constitutional controversy over prosecutors’ power to put an individual on trial a second time for related crimes, agreeing to sort out the effect of a jury’s mixed verdict at the first trial — guilt on some counts, innocence on others.

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:

A Prescription for Religious Liberty [Nat. Rev., 3/29/16]: In two weeks, the Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether to hear one of the most important Free Exercise cases in decades.

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:

Supreme Court deadlock upholds win for unions in fee case [AP / Reuters / Bloomberg News / NPR, 3/29/16]: In the clearest sign yet of the impact of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, conservative opponents of labor unions on Tuesday lost a high-profile Supreme Court dispute they once seemed likely to win.

No comments:

Post a Comment