Posts for July 9, 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.
The Five Principles of Patriotism [Robert Reich,
7/3/16]: Worth a discussion in your class.
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:
Tracing The 'Rise Of The Judicial Right' To Warren Burger's
Supreme Court [NPR’s “Fresh Air,” 7/6/16]: Burger
served as chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1969 until 1986. Linda
Greenhouse, author of The Burger Court, says
those years helped establish the court's conservative legal foundation.
The Not-So-Liberal Roberts
Court
[Linda Greenhouse in the NY Times online, 7/7/16]: The takeaway from the term that ended last week seems
to be that by the time the Supreme Court, short-handed and stumbling in the
wake of Justice Antonin Scalia’s death, finally got its act together at the end
of June, it had — lo and behold — turned liberal.
AP interview: Ginsburg
reflects on big cases, Scalia's death [AP, 7/8/16]: Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she doesn't want to think about the possibility of
Donald Trump winning the White House, and she predicts the next president -
"whoever she will be" - will have a few appointments to make to the
Supreme Court.
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]
Obama: 'America is not as divided as some have suggested' [Politico,
7/9/16]: President Barack Obama on Saturday insisted that American race
relations are not backsliding as the country reels from police-involved
shootings in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas. “America is not as divided as some
have suggested,” Obama told reporters in Warsaw, where he was wrapping up his
final NATO summit.
Can Obama Pardon Millions
of Immigrants? [Op-Ed in NY Times, 7/6/16]: When
the history of President Obama’s legacy on immigration is written, he will not
go down as the president who boldly acted to protect millions of families from
the brutality of our nation’s unforgiving immigration laws. The Supreme Court
made sure of that last month.
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:
Report Finds 'Dark Money' Dip In California [CPR,
7/8/16]: Keith says one reason is a rule the state implemented in 2014. It
requires any organization that spends over a certain limit to report all
political donors.
Hillary’s James Comey
Nightmare Likely Continues [Justia, 7/8/16]: John Dean, former counsel to President Nixon, delves into the FBI’s findings
regarding the Hillary Clinton classified email investigation, as explained in a
recent statement by FBI Director James Comey. Dean further breaks down how the
statements are likely to continue to adversely affect Clinton’s presidential
campaign due to the vague nature of Comey's testimony, even after the FBI
concluded that no reasonable prosecutor would pursue a criminal case on this
matter.
Trump/Clinton on
Shootings [Politico / The Hill, 7/8/16]: One said “There is something wrong in our country.”
The other said, “It
is a coordinated, premeditated assault on the men and women who keep us
safe." Guess which one said what?
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
Constitution Check: Does the FBI have power to decide who
gets prosecuted? [Constitution Daily, 7/6/16]: Lyle
Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser,
looks at the FBI and Attorney General’s role in deciding to press charges in
high-profile cases, which can suddenly gain a lot of visibility when a criminal
investigation is aimed at a prominent political figure.
Can Justice Reform
Efforts Survive Dallas? [The Marshall
Project, 7/8/16]: Advocates have a sinking feeling.
See “Coverage of the
Dallas Police Ambush,” [The Marshall Project, 7/9/16]:
'No One Can Breathe in This Atmosphere' [Slate, 7/7/16]: Everyone should read Justice Sonia
Sotomayor on how police stops are life-and-death experiences for people of
color.
In Dissents,
Sonia Sotomayor Takes On the Criminal Justice System [Adam Liptak’s
NY Times’ “Sidebar” blog, 7/4/16]: Justice
Sotomayor wrote eight dissents before the term ended last Monday. Read
together, they are a remarkable body of work from an increasingly skeptical
student of the criminal justice system, one who has concluded that it is
clouded by arrogance and machismo and warped by bad faith and racism.
Bay Area comes to grips with growing racial divide after
Dallas police shootings [East Bay Times, 7/8/16]: In 68 hours this
week, America changed. The country, simmering under the heat of a chaotic
presidential race and the tension of increasingly volatile race relations, is
reeling after a sniper in Dallas struck down five white police officers and
police in Louisiana and Minnesota killed two black men -- all in 68 hours.
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:
Left, right: Thirty years
ago, progressives embraced religious exemptions; No longer [The Economist, 7/9/16]: One day after releasing their final rulings of the term,
the justices of the Supreme Court returned for an encore on June 28th.
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:
Texas, Joined By Eleven States, Seeks Nationwide
Injunction To Block DOE's Transgender Anti-discrimination Policy
[EdLawProfs Blog, 7/8/16]: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is seeking a
nationwide preliminary injunction to stop the enforcement of the Department of Education's Dear Colleague letter to schools
directing them not to discriminate against transgender students,
particularly in students' choice of bathrooms.
International Law, Citizenship and
Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Court orders release of
detained immigrant kids, not parents [AP, 7/6/16]: A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that Homeland
Security officials must quickly release immigrant children - but not their
parents - from family detention centers after being picked up crossing the
border without documentation.
No comments:
Post a Comment