Posts for April 5,
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:
Jury Room Racism Is Protected. It Shouldn't Be [Bloomberg View, 4/5/16]: Law and tradition say that a jury
verdict shouldn't be overturned on the basis of something jurors say in their
deliberations, no matter how ignorant or offensive. But what if there’s strong
evidence that the jury deliberations were racially biased? Does the defendant’s
right to a fair trial supersede the tradition of letting the verdict stand?
Supreme Court to rule on juror's racial bias [USA Today / SCOTUS blog,
4/4/16]: The Court agreed Monday to hear a case testing whether racially
charged comments spoken in the privacy of jury deliberations can be used to
overturn a guilty verdict. The justices will consider a challenge brought by a
Hispanic man convicted of sexually harassing two women in a bathroom at a
Colorado horse-racing track.
Read the background in Pena-Rodrigues v. Colorado here:
Will Alito replace Scalia
as the Supreme Court's most stinging questioner? [Yahoo News,
4/4/16]: U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli appeared to be momentarily
flustered last month as he argued the Obama administration’s case before the
Supreme Court that religiously affiliated nonprofits’ health care plans must
include birth control….
How the Supreme Court has
changed since Antonin Scalia died [CNN, 4/4/16]: In
the eight weeks since Justice Antonin Scalia's sudden death, the political
branches of government have engaged in a raging debate over the future of the
Supreme Court.
U.S. top court
rejects Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo class action appeals [Reuters, 4/4/16]:
Wal-Mart had sought to get rid of a $187 million class action judgment over the
retailer's treatment of workers in Pennsylvania. Wells Fargo & Co wanted
the justices to toss a $203 million judgment over allegations the bank had
imposed excessive overdraft fees.
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]
Supreme Court split threatens Obama's
immigration actions [The Hill,
4/4/16]: President Obama is facing the very real possibility of a deadlock at
the Supreme Court that guarantees his immigration actions won't take effect
before he leaves office.
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:
Evenwel v. Abbott
Supreme Court
Upholds 'One Person, One' Vote Principle [NPR / The Atlantic, 4/5/16]: The Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Monday that
states may count all residents, whether or not they are eligible to vote, when
drawing election districts. Hear
Nina Totenberg’s broadcast:
Here is the decision in Evenewel:
Constitution Check: What does 'one-person, one-vote'
mean now? [Constitution Daily,
4/5/16]:
How a Challenge to Legislative Redistricting Backfired [The Atlantic,
4/4/16]:
Justice Ginsburg Just Shut Down One Of America's Most
Notorious White Rights Activists
[ThinkProgress, 4/4/16]:
The
Trump Factor: Will It Activate California’s Latino Voters? [KQED, 4/4/16]: He
won’t be one of the more than 2 million Latinos in California who are eligible
to vote but don’t bother to register. According to Pew Hispanic Research
Center, millennials — those 35 and younger like Bedolla — make up almost half
of Latino eligible voters. And Bedolla wants to help stop Republican
front-runner Donald Trump, who created an international controversy after
calling Mexican immigrants rapists and drug runners.
Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)
Conservatives pounce over Garland meetings [Politico, 4/4/16]: The backlash for Republicans who
plan to meet with Obama's nominee kicks into high gear.
Senators remain at stalemate over Supreme Court as they
return to work
[USA Today / Reuters, 4/4/16]: Senators remained
at a stalemate Monday over the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme
Court as they returned from a two-week recess marked by heavy lobbying
from groups supporting and opposing an up-or-down vote on the judge.
$15 Becomes Law [Calif. Politics Podcast,
4/4/16]: A special Monday edition of the podcast: Gov. Jerry Brown signs the
$15 minimum wage law. We take a look at the politics that got us here, and what
might lie ahead.
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
What It’s Like to
Almost Get Executed [The Marshall
Project, 3/31/16]: San Quentin inmate
Kevin Cooper on watching the minutes tick away on his life.
Supreme Court
reverses Tenth Circuit on sex offender registration [Jurist, 4/4/16]: The Court on Monday ruled unanimously in Nichols v. US that the Sex Offender Notification and
Registration Act (SONR) did not require an individual to update his
registration in Kansas once he departed the state and moved to a foreign
country, overruling the Tenth Circuit.
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:
The Strange Career of Free Exercise [The Atlantic, 4/4/16]: America is experiencing a
revolution in religious-freedom law -- transforming the rights of individual
conscience into a bulwark of secular wealth and ecclesiastical power.
Court Denies Review in Campaign Finance Case [First Amendment News from “Concurring Opinions, 4/5/16]: Today the Court issued its orders list in which the Justices declined to hear the case of Justice
v. Hoserman. The recent update to the 1st Amendment docket
of the Court is reviewed also.
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:
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