Saturday, July 2, 2016

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



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