Posts for March 14, 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:

The Supreme Court Needs an Outsider [Bloomberg View, 3/13/16]: “As President Barack Obama prepares to square off with Senate Republicans over his Supreme Court nominee, I offer a soft word of advice: Don’t pick a judge.”

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-03-10/look-beyond-judges-to-find-the-next-supreme-court-justice

The War Against Obama's Potential Supreme Court Nominees Takes An Ugly, Offensive Turn [ThinkProgress, 3/13/16]: We do not yet know who President Obama will name to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia. We do know, however, that anyone the president names will be subjected to a brutal campaign to discredit them in the eyes of the public. A conservative advocacy group called the Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) reportedly hired “a team of about 10 researchers, including a number of lawyers” to conduct opposition research into potential nominees.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/03/14/3759513/the-war-against-obamas-supreme-court-nominee-takes-an-ugly-offensive-turn/

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:

California primary may yet count [SF Chron, 3/13/16]: This might be the rare moment in the past four decades when the California primary looms large in at least one, and perhaps two, of the major-party nominations. The big variable is what happens in other primaries, starting Tuesday.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/diaz/article/California-primary-may-yet-count-6885845.php?t=4facd34daf1210a92f&cmpid=twitter-premium

Trump’s Week of Errors, Exaggerations and Flat-out Falsehoods [Politico, 3/13/16]:  Donald Trump says he is a truthful man. “Maybe truthful to a fault,” he boasted last week at a North Carolina rally where one of his supporters sucker punched a protester. But truthful he is not.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/trump-fact-check-errors-exaggerations-falsehoods-213730

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 Wages of Crying Wolf [Justia, 3/14/16]: Professor Rotunda calls attention to the increasing problem of false claims of hate crimes—whether based on race or sexual orientation—and suggests that rather than embrace a mob mentality, we neither jump to conclusions of guilt nor accuse claimants of lying.

https://verdict.justia.com/2016/03/14/the-wages-of-crying-wolf

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: