Friday, March 25, 2016

Posts for March 25, 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:

The Top Five Supreme Court Nomination Myths [Slate, 3/24/16]: If you think the court hasn't always been a political place, you're wrong.

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]

Biden: Supreme Court vacancy helps 'rich and powerful’ [USA Today / Politico, 3/24/16]: Vice President Biden sought to increase pressure on Senate Republicans Thursday by warning that their refusal to consider filling the Supreme Court's gaping vacancy was creating a "constitutional crisis" that will help the rich and powerful at the expense of ordinary Americans.

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:

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)


A Big, Unexpected Crack Just Formed In The GOP's Wall Of Opposition To Merrick Garland [ThinkProgress, 3/24/16]: A conservative Republican senator from one of the reddest states in the country just broke with his party’s extraordinary resistance to Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland.

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


US Supreme Court Takes up Speedy-Trial Fight in Montana Case [AP, 3/24/16]: he U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week in a Montana criminal case on whether the constitutional right to a speedy trial ends with a conviction or continues through a defendant's sentencing. The Sixth Amendment has been around for 225 years, but the question of whether sentencing falls under its speedy-trial provision has never before reached the nation's highest court. Lower federal and state courts have made conflicting rulings on the issue.

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:

What Religious Freedom Means. (It's Complicated.) [Bloomberg View, 3/24/16]: The Supreme Court looks like it's going to split 4-4 on whether religious organizations are entitled to have even their health insurance providers exempted from providing contraceptive care under the Affordable Care Act. That much was clear from the justices comments at oral arguments on Wednesday.

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:

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


Appeals court rules alcoholism an illness, not a moral defect [SF Chron, 3/24/16]: A law barring unauthorized immigrants from challenging their deportation if they are “habitual drunkards” is unconstitutional because alcoholism is an illness, not a moral defect that would automatically disqualify them, a divided federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

Navigating Life And Love When One Parent Is Undocumented [CPR, 3/24/16]: Bernardo Martinez Cordova arrived in the U.S. a decade ago when he was 23 years old. He hoped to create a better life than he would have had picking sugarcane in Veracruz. He hoped to send money home to his parents and six siblings.

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