Posts for April 8,
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:
Sotomayor, in Santa Fe,
discusses court qualifications, her childhood [Santa Fe New Mexican, 4/7/16]: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wouldn’t
discuss the current vacancy on the nation’s highest court during her talk at
St. John’s College on Wednesday evening. But in response to a student’s
question, she did say that U.S. law has become too complicated for anyone
without extensive legal experience to step into the job.
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:
ACLU
and Planned Parenthood suing Indiana over abortion ban [Jurist, 4/8/16]: The American
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned
Parenthood of Indiana filed suit against the state of Indiana on
Thursday, challenging the constitutionality of a recently-signed
abortion law that would
prevent abortions sought due to genetic abnormalities.
The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Obama returns home to push
for 'ideal' Supreme Court nominee [Chicago Sun-Times, 4/7/16]: President
Obama took his push to get the U.S. Senate to grant a hearing to his Supreme
Court nominee Merrick Garland back home to Chicago on Thursday, where he warned
about the dangers of partisanship seeping into the country’s judicial system.
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:
Should Voters’ Hands
in the Vice Presidential Selection Process Be Tied? [Justia, 4/8/16]: Professor Amar
explains how voters’ hands are tied when it comes to electing a vice president.
Amar calls into question this widespread practice and considers whether we
might improve the democratic process by changing it.
Schwarzenegger voters are Trump voters, California poll
says [AP, 4/7/16]: The poll
also reported that many of Trump’s California supporters are the same voters
who backed action star Arnold Schwarzenegger when he ran in the state’s
historic recall election for governor in 2003. “Voters who say they voted for
Schwarzenegger in 2003 prefer Trump over Cruz nearly three to one,” DiCamillo
said.
Trump has more than math to worry about in Cleveland [Politico,
4/7/16]: Every aspect of the Republican National Convention is a potential
tripwire that motivated anti-Trump forces could deploy to waylay the mogul —
from major processes to invalidate whole slates of delegates to minor
inconveniences, like seating arrangements for delegates inside the arena, which
could complicate negotiations if the convention becomes a free-for-all.
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
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:
Student Press Freedom
Bills Progressing in Maryland, Illinois [SPLC, 4/8/16]:
Free-Speech Case
Against Fresno State Revived [CNS, 4/7/16]: Fresno
State University must face First Amendment claims for disciplining a
politically outspoken student who confronted two professors about a poem
published in the student newspaper that contained controversial lines about the
United States, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.
Louisiana Senate
committee declines to vote for repeal of creationism law declared
unconstitutional in 1987 [NSBA Legal Clips, 4/4/16]: The Louisiana
Senate Education Committee voted, 4-2, against repealing an unconstitutional
and unenforceable state law that requires public schools to give balanced
treatment in science classes and textbooks to evolution and creationism. The
law also prohibits teaching evolution as a proven scientific fact.
Judge rules putting cross
on LA County seal unconstitutional [AP, 4/7/16]: Los Angeles County's decision to put a cross to its
county seal for the first time in a decade was unconstitutional, a federal
judge ruled.
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:
Transgender restroom
bill killed by Tennessee House committee is revived in House, advances in
Senate [NSBA Legal Clips, 4/1/16]: Even though the Tennessee House Education
Administration and Planning Committee killed the bill seeking to require
students to use bathrooms that match their sex at birth, on the next day state
Rep. Jim Coley made a motion to force the committee to reconsider
its action. Coley’s motion succeeded on a voice vote of the committee and
the bill has been given new life in the House and advanced in the Senate.
Read Appeal of Farmington School District at:
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