Posts for July 2, 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:
Wrapping up the U.S.
Supreme Court 2015 term [NSBA
Legal Clips, 6/29/16]: Court denies rehearing in California teachers
union case decided in March and grants review in special education case over
exhaustion of administrative remedies.
Supreme Court Notebook: Thomas' dissents rise in
nixed cases [AP, 6/30/16]: One measure of Supreme Court justices' rising frustration
is the number of times they can't recruit three colleagues to hear a case, then
feel compelled to tell the world about it. Justice Clarence Thomas did so nine
times this past term, or about as often as he did in the four previous years
combined. Most appeals are denied with no objection noted.
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:
New laws on abortion set
to take effect around the country [AP, 6/29/16]: New
laws targeting abortion are set to take effect Friday in about one-fifth of the
states, initiating another wave of restrictions just days after the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down a Texas measure that led several clinics to close.
Gov.
Jerry Brown signs bulk of sweeping gun-control package into law, vetoes five
bills [SF
Chron, 7/1/16]: Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday signed six gun-control bills into
law, including a requirement that ammunition purchasers undergo background
checks. The governor vetoed five other measures, including an expansion of the
use of restraining orders to take guns from people deemed to be dangerous.
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:
Iowa Supreme Court upholds ban on voting rights for felons [AP, 6/30/16]: Convicted
felons in Iowa may be automatically stripped of their voting rights for life
unless those rights are restored by the governor, a divided Iowa Supreme Court
ruled Thursday.
Voting Ban for Ex-Cons Is
a Lifetime Sentence [Bloomberg, 7/1/16]: Most states
ban felons from voting while in prison, and 10 provide that the prohibition can
become permanent. Is this relic of common-law tradition constitutional in the
modern age?
Study Up, California! You’ve Got 17 Statewide Measures to
Vote On [KQED, 7/1/16]: Along with several big bond and tax questions,
voters will get to decide the future of the death penalty, a collection of
tough new gun laws, and whether they really like a yet-to-be-enacted statewide
ban on plastic bags.
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
It’s Been Almost Two
Months Since the U.S. Executed Someone [The Marshall Project, 6/30/16]: We’re in the middle of one of the longest death
penalty lulls in 24 years.
In November, questions of life and death in California [Capitol
Weeklly, 7/1/16]: Will November mark the
death of the death penalty? This fall, Californians will be asked yet again
whether they would like to abolish capital punishment. Voters last faced the
issue in 2012, a presidential election year, and rejected the idea.
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:
Join in the
Fireworks: The Ones You Watch or the Ones Around Freedom [Newseum,
7/1/16]: This year’s State of the First Amendment national survey (SOFA),
conducted in partnership with USA TODAY, does more than just sample our
attitudes about those five core freedoms – it also may show just how those
freedoms can work.
Tech
companies use automation to remove extremist content on the internet [FAC, 6/28/16]: YouTube, Google and Facebook are among
internet companies who have started to remove extremist content from their
websites, particularly videos from the Islamic State.
Federal court sidelines
Cleveland restrictions on speeches and parades at Republican convention
[FAC, 6/28/16]: A federal district judge issued an injunction commanding
Cleveland to rewrite its regulations for the Republican National Convention
slated for July.
Group of parents and
taxpayers file suit against Texas district over renaming schools that were
named for Confederate leaders [Houston Chron / NSBA Legal Clips, 6/28/16]: A group of parents and taxpayers have
filed suit in Harris County District Court against Houston Independent
School District (HISD), alleging the school district violated numerous
laws and their own regulations when recently changing the names of eight
schools.
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:
Indiana District Court: parenthood statute violates
Fourteenth Amendment [Jurist,
7/1/16]: The US
District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Thursday struck
down the state's parenthood statute for violating the Equal Protection and Due
Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The statutes provide that
only birth mothers would be listed on a birth certificate, meaning that, where
one lesbian partner undergoes artificial insemination, the other woman would
not be granted parental status to the child.
Employment Law update: New Mexico rules exclusion of farm laborers from worker's
compensation unconstitutional [Jurist, 7/1/16]: The New
Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the exclusion of
farm and ranch workers from the New Mexico's Worker Compensation Act is
unconstitutional. The court relied on legislative interpretation to hold
that the exclusion of the farm workers served no purpose in the furtherance of the
act, and that the discrimination against such workers was wholly arbitrary.
International Law, Citizenship and
Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Top
appeals court to take up landmark child migrant case
[Politico, 6/28/16]: A landmark child migrant case comes before the U.S. 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals next week in Seattle, where a three judge panel will
hear oral arguments as to the right of juveniles to an attorney in deportation
proceedings.
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/child-migrant-case-appeals-court-224897
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/child-migrant-case-appeals-court-224897
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