Posts for April 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:
Justice Breyer Stresses
Globality
[Georgetown Univ. Hoya, 4/29/16]: Supreme
Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer argued that the court should take a more
global perspective in legal deliberations and defended the responsibility of
the court to uphold the rule of law in a conversation hosted by the department
of government as part of the Marver H. Bernstein Symposium in Gaston Hall on
Thursday.
When Smart Supreme Court
Justices Play Dumb [Linda Greenhouse in the NY Times, 4/28/16]: There are few sights more disconcerting during a Supreme
Court argument than smart justices playing dumb.
A Supreme Court Challenge
for Democrats [Ted Olsen Op-Ed in the WSJ via Google, 4/28/16]: Ending ugly
confirmation battles would be good for the high court; But a truce cannot be
one-sided. The relentless partisan
warfare over Supreme Court appointments, including the latest manifestation
involving Judge Merrick Garland, is disheartening, damaging to the court and
corrosive to civil discourse.
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:
Gun Groups Fight
California Over Schools [CNS, / NSBA Legal Clips, 4/18/16]: People with concealed carry permits sued California,
claiming exempting retired peace officers from a law banning guns in schools
discriminates against people who are not retired peace officers.
Poll: GOP disapproval highest since 1992 [Politico,
4/28/16]: Sixty-two percent of Americans have an unfavorable impression of the
GOP compared to 33 percent who view the party favorably, according to a Pew
Research Center study released Thursday. That’s a more negative image of the
party than in October, when there was a split of 58 percent unfavorable to 37
percent favorable.
The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Obama's Push for Court Pick Fizzles as
Republicans Stand Firm [Bloomberg
News, 4/28/16]: A media blitz by the White House and its allies has failed to
crack Republican opposition to President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee,
and it is all but certain the seat will remain vacant until after U.S.
elections in November.
Obama's Iran-Contra [Slate, 4/29/16]: The president is spending money that Congress has
explicitly told him he can't spend.
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:
Family ties run
strong in the California Capitol
[CalMatters, 4/27/16]: Gov. Jerry Brown, the son of a former governor, has
occupied the governor’s office longer than any governor in state history. And
more children of legislators now serve in the Legislature than at any point in
the last hundred years.
Cruz's California gamble [Riggs Report,
4/28/16]: Picking Carly Fiorina as his running mate guarantees lots of
attention at the gathering in Burlingame. The problem is, it's likely to be the
wrong kind of attention.
Carly Fiorina’s missing California network [Politico,
4/28/16]: The former Senate candidate moved away after losing in 2010,
dismantling her political network and leaving some bills unpaid.
Delegates: The quiet election [Capitol Weekly,
4/28/16]: It’s the most important election you’ve never heard of. On Sunday,
thousands of Democrats across California will go to scattered voting places –
libraries, community centers, meeting halls – to choose presidential delegates
for the national convention this summer in Philadelphia.
Will young Sanders backers stay and steer Democrats
leftward? [SF Chron, 4/27/16]: As a light rain fell on the young political
activists at Sproul Plaza on Wednesday, the morning after Vermont Sen. Bernie
Sanders all but waved the white flag in his White House bid, the undergraduate
who founded UC Berkeley Students for Bernie was “anything but disappointed.
An Era of Unchecked
Presidential Primaries [Justia, 4/29/16]:
John Dean comments on the current role of the national political parties in
presidential campaign politics. Dean argues that both Sanders and Trump
illustrate candidates’ declining need for the support—financial or otherwise—of
the national parties in order to excel in the primary process.
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
Breathalyzers, Textalyzers
and the Constitution [Bloomberg View, 4/28/16]: New
York’s Legislature is considering a proposal to give police officers
“textalyzers,” gizmos that would
enable roadside checks of drivers suspected of using mobile phones behind the
wheel. Given the dangers of texting while driving, the technology may be a good
idea. But is it constitutional?
No Warrant? Stay Out
of Garbage, Seattle Police [CNS, 4/29/16]:
Seattle's warrantless searches of garbage to enforce its recycling law is
unconstitutional, a judge ruled.
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:
First Five: Our watchdog on government, Europe’s web
privacy rules, schools help police with students’ social media [Newseum, 4/28/16]:
Scouring the web for First Amendment news is our job. Enjoy First Five, your
regular dose of First Amendment news!
Video: Charles Haynes on Recent State Religious Freedom
Laws [Newseum, 4/29/16]: In response
to recent religious exemption laws that jeopardize LGBT rights, religious
liberty expert Charles Haynes proposes common ground.
With Bible bill vetoes, governors uphold religious
freedom [Newseum, 4/28/16]: The
culture wars took an expected turn this month when two Republican governors
vetoed “Bible bills” in the reliably red states of Idaho and Tennessee.
Free Speech for Bad People [Bloomberg View, 4/27/16]: Dr. James Tracy is certainly a crank and also seems to
be a terrible person. But Florida Atlantic University violated his academic
freedom when it fired him from his tenured professorship in January, and he
should win the lawsuit he’s just brought against the school.
More Hefferman: Supreme Court Strikes
Blow for Free Speech -- and Against Arbitrary Government [Huff Post,
4/28/16]: If a public employee is demoted because his employer thought he
was engaging in constitutionally protected political activity, can he sue his
employer if he was not in fact doing so?
Ninth Circuit panel
rules former teacher failed to state a valid claim for First Amendment
retaliation based on her termination after raising concerns about her school’s
special education program to her supervisors and her students’ parents
[NSBA Legal Clips, 4/27/16]: The panel concluded, based on Garcetti v. Ceballos, that the teacher’s speech was not
protected by the First Amendment because it was made pursuant to her
duties as an employee, even though it involved a matter of public concern.
The case is Coomes v. Edmonds Sch. Dist.
No. 15., and it can be found at:
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:
Baseball commentator learns limits of First Amendment
protection [FAN, 4/28/16]: The renowned baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, turned
ESPN commentator, found out the hard way that his free speech rights protect
him from retaliation from the government but not his employer. ESPN fired him
after he announced on air his support for North Carolina’s transgender law that
bars individuals from using public restrooms that don’t jibe with their
biological sex.
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