Posts for August 26, 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:
Brock Turner: Judge in Stanford sex trial to no longer
hear criminal cases [East Bay Times, 8/26/16]: The Santa Clara County
judge who faces a recall threat for giving a light sentence to a Stanford
student convicted of sexual assault will no longer handle criminal cases -- at
his own request.
Why it Matters: Supreme
Court [AP,
8/25/16]: Four cases ended in a tie after
Scalia's death. With Senate Republicans refusing to confirm President Barack
Obama's choice to succeed Scalia, the outcome of the presidential election will
determine whether the ninth, tie-breaking justice moves the court right or
left. How much can one vote matter?
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:
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:
Voter fraud is not a persistent problem [News21, 8/20/16]: Politicians and voting rights advocates continue to clash
over whether photo ID and other voting requirements are needed to prevent voter
fraud, but a News21 analysis and recent court rulings show little evidence that
such fraud is widespread.
Check out News21’s “Voting
War’s website: Since the last presidential election,
politicians in 20 states have passed dozens of new voting laws, which means
millions of Americans will face unprecedented requirements to vote.
Trump's allies squirm on immigration shift [Politico,
8/25/16]: Donald Trump's softer talk on immigration is causing heartburn among
his some of his hard-line supporters, leaving them to either defend or distance
themselves from his pledge to offer relief for certain undocumented
immigrants.
Clinton to accuse Trump of 'taking hate groups
mainstream' [Politico, 8/25/16]:
Hillary Clinton plans to accuse Donald Trump of allowing a “radical
fringe” that peddles in racism and dark conspiracy theories of hijacking the
Republican Party, warning that America cannot let him prevail come
November.
Trump Throws Off the
Last Pretense That His Campaign Is Not About Bigotry [Justia, 8/26/16]: Professor Buchanan
comments on Donald Trump’s inclusion of Brexit provocateur Nigel Farage as a
speaker at a rally in Mississippi.
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
“Border exception" to Fourth Amendment's
reasonable suspicion requirement for warrantless search stretched to the
breaking point, Sixth Circuit judge asserts [6th
Circuit, 8/25/16]: The decision in D.E.
v. Doe is very interesting and can be found here:
Court: Michigan sex
offender rules cannot be retroactive [AP, 8/25/16]: Significant
changes to Michigan's sex offender registry law cannot be applied retroactively
to potentially thousands of sex offenders because the revisions
unconstitutionally stiffen the punishment of offenders after their convictions,
a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
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:
Federal district
court in New York state rules that disabled student has valid ADA claim based
on district requiring an adult handler for her service dog [NSBA Legal
Clips, 8/25/16]: A federal district court in New York state has
ruled that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title II,
nor the ADA’s implementing regulations, requires school districts to
provide disabled students with handlers, or any other service, for their
service animals. However, the court concluded that the federal government had
stated a valid claim on behalf of a disabled student for violation of Title II
of the ADA based on the fact that the school district required the student’s
parent to provide an adult handler for the student’s
service dog at school. It found that there was genuine issue of material fact
as to whether the student was acting as the dog’s handler within the meaning of
Title II and the ADA’s implementing regulation.
The case is U.S. v. Gates-Chilli Cent. Sch. Dist. and can be found at:
NLRB: student assistants are statutory employees [Jurist, 8/26/16]: The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined 3-1
Tuesday that student assistants working at private colleges are statutory
employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act. The case was filed by
graduate students at Columbia University representing graduate and
undergraduate student assistants.
International Law, Citizenship and
Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Top French Court
Rules Against Burkini Bans [CNS, 8/26/16]: France's
top administrative court overturned a ban on burkinis in a Mediterranean town,
in a decision Friday that should set legal precedent regarding a swimsuit
crackdown that has divided the country and provoked shock around the world.
UN High Commissioner calls for creation of independent
international body [Jurist,
8/26/16]: The UN High Commissioner
for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, on Thursday called
on the international community to establish an independent international body
for conducting comprehensive investigations of human rights violations in
Yemen.
Lawsuit opens new front in
Obama immigration legal fight [Reuters, 8/25/16]: Immigration advocates on
Thursday mounted a long-shot effort to revive part of U.S. President Barack
Obama's plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation by filing a
lawsuit challenging the national scope of a court order that blocked it.
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