Posts for June 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:
What Do This Week's
Supreme Court Decisions Mean for Immigration and Affirmative Action? [NY Times Magazine,
6/24/16]: President Obama’s attempt at
immigration reform was the big loser at the Supreme Court Thursday, and
affirmative action in university admissions was the winner. Let’s start with
immigration…
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 Tie Blocks Obama Immigration
Plan [NY Times, 6/23/16]: The Supreme Court on Thursday announced that it had
deadlocked in a case challenging President Obama’s immigration plan, a sharp blow to an
ambitious program that Mr. Obama had hoped would become one of his central legacies.
As a result, as many as five million undocumented immigrants will not be
shielded from deportation or allowed to legally work in the United States. As
former solicitor general Walter Dellinger commented, “seldom have the hopes of
so many been crushed by so few words.” The case is U.S. v. Texas.
Opinion analysis: Obama
immigration plan all but doomed [SCOTUS blog, 6/23/16]: President Barack Obama’s ambitious plan to overhaul
U.S. immigration policy for millions of foreign nationals living in the
U.S. came close to crashing down Thursday in a Supreme Court decision so
brief that it was barely mentioned by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.
If the policy is not yet entirely doomed, it could be after it is
formally returned to a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, who is sure to
be guided by an appeals court ruling that already has said, in essence,
that the government probably will lose.
Three Lessons From Obama's Immigration Defeat [Bloomberg, 6/23/16]: Thoughtful take on the decision.
Hawaii Passes First
of Its Kind Gun Legislation [CNS, 6/24/16]: The
50th state has become the first in the nation to step up monitoring of firearms
with the signing of new legislation in Hawaii on Wednesday. The new law
authorizes county police departments in Hawaii to have a
criminal-record-monitoring service keep tabs on individuals who apply for and
register their firearms.
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:
Uprising in the Rust Belt [Politico, 6/24/16]:
They used to be Democrats. Now they really could hand Donald Trump the White
House.
Can Trump repeat the Brexit miracle? [Politico,
6/24/16]: The parallels are there, but key differences still spell trouble for
the presumptive GOP nominee.
For three counties, vote-by-mail is only option [Capitol
Weekly, 6/24/16]: Increasingly, California voters use the mailbox, not the
ballot box. But in three of California’s 58 counties — Plumas, Alpine and
Sierra — there was no other choice but mail-in voting. And they like it that
way.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
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
Blood, Breath and the
Fourth Amendment [Bloomberg View, 6/24/16]: What's
the difference between blood and breath? This sounds like a theological
question for the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox
Church that’s slated to meet in Crete this weekend. But it was the secular
priests of the Supreme Court who took it up Thursday, in a case about
warrantless blood tests and breathalyzers for drunk driving.
Justices Help Keep the
U.S. Family Together [Noah Feldman in Bloomberg, 6/24/16]: On the day of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, it was perhaps
appropriate for a divided Supreme Court to decide a case about the complex,
coordinated relationship between federal and state law. The majority opinion was
taking care to maintain the distinction between state and federal criminal
laws. Bending over backwards to insist on their differences, even when tiny, is
a form of symbolic communication. It tells Americans that the states retain
sovereignty and distinctiveness.
The decision in Mathis v. U.S. can be found at:
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:
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:
On Affirmative Action, Supreme Court Rules for Humility [Bloomberg View, 6/24/16]: n refusing
to strike down a race-conscious
admissions plan at the University of Texas at Austin on Thursday, the Supreme
Court did more than uphold an affirmative action program. Just as
important, it struck a much-needed blow for judicial modesty. The justices
showed an awareness that others might know better than they do. We could use a
lot more of that.
The Affirmative Action
Surprise
[David Cole in the NY Rev. of Books, 6/24/16]: The decision means that affirmative action will survive, and that a solid
majority of the Court’s justices, even without the justice who will eventually
fill Scalia’s seat, understand the importance of considering race in admitting
students to our nation’s colleges.
I
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