Posts for June 18, 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
2016 election’s effect on the Supreme Court [Constitution Daily,
6/15/16]: Insulation from the winds of political change. Protection of
minorities from the majority’s tyranny. Such is the jargon describing the
United States Supreme Court’s role in government. Once a judge ascends to our
highest court, firmly seated to exercise life-long power, the judge is expected
to embrace a duty of impartiality, rendering decisions reflecting “neutral”
legal principles, not partisan politics. The reality of judging presents something quite different
from this pristine vision.
Judicial Independence: The Unintended Consequences of the Stanford Rape-Case Recall [The New Yorker, 6/17/16]: When the Supreme Court refused to overturn Roe v. Wade, in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, in 1992, a plurality of the Justices famously explained that doing otherwise would look like surrender to the intense political protests directed at the Court.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-unintended-consequences-of-the-stanford-rape-case-recall
Top Obama Lawyer: Obamacare Fight Over, Muslim Ban Unlikely [NBC News, 6/16/16]: hen Don Verrilli wins at the Supreme Court,
he wins big. In his five years as the top lawyer representing the United
States, Verrilli won cases on marriage equality, immigration law and the
legality of President Barack Obama's health care law -- twice. He has also lost
in big ways.
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 Legal Residue of American Empire [The Atlantic, 6/17/16]: Imperialism has left tricky
sovereignty questions with which the U.S. Supreme Court is only now reckoning.
The result in three recent cases has been a decision that strengthens the hand
of Congress. Empire, the Court is suggesting, belongs to politicians, not
lawyers.
What's Really Standing in the Way of Gun
Control [Jeffrey Toobin in The
New Yorker, 6/13/16]: It’s political will, not the Supreme Court’s 2008
decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, that’s blocking gun-control
efforts.
Is there a constitutional
right to have a rapidly firing assault gun? [Constitution Daily / USA Today, 6/14/16]: Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s
constitutional literacy adviser, looks at the latest legal developments related
to assault weapons bans, including one case to be considered by the
Supreme Court at its private Conference on Thursday.
Time for a 'No Buy' List
on Guns: Point and Counterpoint [NY Times / Nat. Rev., 6/14/16]: The massacre in Florida is a horrifying reminder that
terrorists don’t need airplanes to kill scores of people: All they need are
commonplace firearms. Gun-control groups are already issuing calls to do more
to keep suspected terrorists from buying guns, while those against stricter gun
laws say we shouldn’t deny people their constitutional rights on the basis of
mere suspicion. They are both correct. But there is a solution. But, is it
constitutionally reckless?
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Obama laces into Trump for whipping up terrorism fears [Politico,
61416]: President Barack Obama ripped into Donald Trump on Tuesday for
criticizing him for not using the phrase "radical Islam" and for
renewing his proposed Muslim ban, warning about the danger that the presumptive
Republican nominee would pose as president.
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:
Donald Trump’s
Criticism of Judge Curiel Was Racist, but Precisely How? [Justia, 6/17/16]: Professor Amar discusses Donald
Trump's public criticism of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is currently presiding
over the federal fraud lawsuit against Trump University.
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
California death penalty repeal qualifies for November
vote [AP, 6/18/16]: California voters will be asked to do away with
the nation's largest death row after the secretary of state's office said the
repeal measure qualified for the November ballot on Friday.
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:
Pear v. U.S. [Newseum, 6/17/16]: The issues involved in the
“Apple-FBI” iPhone controversy were argued Wednesday before a panel of First
Amendment, cybersecurity, civil liberties and national security experts — and
the verdict from audience members watching the mock Supreme Court session was
split.
You can watch the video (36 minutes) of this presentation
at:
Free Speech—Not Always
What We Want to Hear [Newseum, 6/16/16]: We need to hear things that we don’t agree
with, if only to be better prepared to argue against such ideas. A free
exchange of views is a foundational element of the First Amendment and its
metaphorical home ground, the “Marketplace of Ideas.”
Seventh Circuit panel
rules that teacher’s in-class speech, which involved use of a racial epithet
for educational purposes, was not speech protected by the First Amendment
[NSBA Legal Clips, 6/16/16]: Read the NSBA analysis of Brown v. Chicago
Bd. of Educ. The court rejected the teacher’s argument that the holding
in Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006),
which indicates that speech pursuant to one’s employment duties is not
protected, does not apply when the speech in question is related to scholarship
or teaching.
The Brown ruling 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:
Ohio district mounts
legal challenge to federal government’s transgender student guidance [NSBA
Legal Clips, 6/14/16]: Highland Local School District has filed suit against
the federal government in federal court after the U.S. Department of
Education threatened to begin an enforcement action unless the school district
allows a transgender grade school student to use the restroom that reflects the
student’s gender identity by June 28.
U.S. transgender woman's
journey turns into constitutional fight [Reuters, 6/16/16]: Kate Lynn Blatt once lived as a woman at home but went
to work in a battery factory as a man, a painful phase in her gender transition
that would later propel her to the forefront of a constitutional battle for
transgender rights in America.
Kansas lawmakers to debate
schools, lessening court's power [AP, 6/17/16]: Kansas
legislators were discussing a short-term education funding fix Thursday to
satisfy a state Supreme Court order while also debating longer-term proposals
for curbing the court's power to force school finance changes.
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