Posts for August 15, 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 (5^th ed.) student textbook.

Students: How is Your Campus Protecting Free Expression? [Newseum, 8/15/16]: Create a video and compete to participate in the Newseum Institute “Free Expression on Campus Video Fair” Nov. 17-18.

http://www.newseuminstitute.org/2016/08/15/students-how-is-your-campus-protecting-free-expression/

Is America Any Safer? [The Atlantic, 8/15/16]: Since 9/11, the United States has spent $1 trillion to defend against al-Qaeda and ISIL, dirty bombs and lone wolves, bioterror and cyberterror. Has it worked?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/are-we-any-safer/492761/

I. Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Breyer Sets Sights on Death Penalty With Transgender Vote [Bloomberg, 8/15/16]: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer was trying to inspire his colleagues with his unusual concurrence Aug. 3, University of Chicago Law School professor William Baude told Bloomberg BNA Aug. 4.

http://www.bna.com/breyer-sets-sights-n73014446339/

Justice Sonia Sotomayor offers personal window into Supreme Court [Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, 8/15/16]: With a few simple gestures, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor brought the personal side of the high court to Fairbanks on Sunday night.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/justice-sonia-sotomayor-offers-personal-window-into-supreme-court/article_2230d506-62be-11e6-b57b-6f40cdd49f99.html

At Supreme Court, Jurors' Voices Silenced [Jost on Justice, 8/14/16]: Twelve Virginians sat in a federal court jury box for six weeks in the late summer of 2014 and then voted unanimously to convict the state’s former governor and his wife of political corruption. Nineteen months later, eight Supreme Court justices heard lawyers for former governor Bob McDonnell argue that McDonnell had done nothing illegal when he accepted extravagant gifts, favors, and sweetheart loans from a businessman seeking the governor’s help for his company.

http://jostonjustice.blogspot.com/2016/08/at-supreme-court-jurors-voices-silenced.html

II. Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

III. The Political System: Voting and Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Pollsters: Trump approaching zero hour [Politico, 8/15/16]: No candidate in Donald Trump’s position at this stage of the campaign has gone on to win the popular vote in November in the modern polling era. That’s the sobering news confronting the Trump campaign as it seeks to rebound from his recent slump. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/pollsters-trump-approaching-zero-hour-227000

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-rnc-support-226987

TRUMP BEING TRUMP

Trump goes on tear against media, not Clinton [AP, 8/15/16]:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fbedd1383ae449039a492d2da2f81045/trump-makes-pitch-connecticut-democratic-stronghold

Trump to propose political tests for immigrants [AP / CNS, 8/14/16]: Calls for 'Extreme Vetting' of Immigrants.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c76a20b8a9864ba7a3434167dd80d2b4/trump-would-stop-issuing-visas-if-screenings-were

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/08/15/trump-calls-for-extreme-vetting-of-immigrants.htm

IV. Criminal Law and Procedure (4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th amendments) [See TOPICS 21-28 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit

Imposing Criminal Punishment by Introducing False Testimony [Justia, 8/15/16]: Professor Rotunda comments on the latest developments in the criminal proceedings against Sholom Rubashkin—specifically the revelation that federal prosecutors introduced false testimony in pursuit of conviction. Rotunda provides background on the case and describes the misconduct of the prosecution in handling the case.

https://verdict.justia.com/2016/08/15/imposing-criminal-punishment-introducing-false-testimony

The Legacy of Lynching, on Death Row [The New Yorker, 8/22/16]: In Alabama, Bryan Stevenson is saving inmates from execution and memorializing the darkest episodes of America's past.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/08/22/bryan-stevenson-and-the-legacy-of-lynching

V. 1^st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

High School Football Coach Dismissed for Praying; Facts, Not Rhetoric, Will Matter Most [EdLawProfs Blog, 8/15/16]: Coach Joseph Kennedy’s story (he’s an assistant football coach at a public high school in Bremerton, WA.) has burned up the internet and airways with hard line positions on both sides, so much so that finding primary reporting is hard.

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2016/08/high-school-football-coach-dismissed-for-praying-facts-not-rhetoric-will-matter-most.html

VI. 14^th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit: