Posts for September 21, 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:
A 'view' from the
Courtroom: Philadelphia in 1794 [SCOTUS blog / USA Today, 9/20/16]: Your correspondent has traveled from the budding City
of Washington in the Territory of Columbia to our nation’s capital here to
cover a rare jury trial in the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Nixon
Court and the Rise of Judicial Conservatism [National Constitution Center / YouTube,
9/21/16]: Pulitzer
Prize-winning Supreme Court journalist Linda Greenhouse and Rutgers University
School of Law Professor Earl Maltz return to the Warren Burger Court years for
a look at the rise of the conservative court that still defines the
constitutional landscape we live in today.
The Future of the Supreme
Court, Regardless of Who Wins the Election [Justia, 9/21/16]: Professor Dorf explains what can be deduced about the Supreme Court's
future, even before the 2016 US presidential election. Dorf references the role
that the Court plays in American public life while also offering notable
examples of areas where the Court has little to no say.
Trumpism Is the Symptom of a Gravely Ill Constitution [The Atlantic, 9/20/16]: No matter what happens in
November, the sickness may be terminal.
Elena Kagan Keeps It Real, Says Having An Eight-Member
Supreme Court Is Not 'Cost-Free' [Huff
Post / AP, 9/17/16]: The junior justice shed light on the dynamics of not
having a ninth benchmate.
We should elect Supreme Court justices [USA Today, 9/15/16]: The Supremes are functioning
more like a legislature than a court, and no legislature is above politics.
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:
Gun rights debate returns
to Washington courtroom [CNN, 9/20/16]: The battle over
gun rights returns to the nation's capital Tuesday, when a federal appeals
court will consider a gun restriction that requires applicants for a license to
carry a concealed firearm to demonstrate a 'good reason' to fear injury to his
or her person or property.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Judicial Nominee Backlog
Still Mired in Partisan Politics [NBC News / The Hill, 9/18/16]: Some judicial insiders worry that another important
related issue — filling vacancies on the federal district and appeals courts —
has gotten short shrift as the political theater surrounding Justice Antonin
Scalia's successor drags on.
'Unraveled: Obamacare,
Religious Liberty, and Executive Power [The Volokh Conspiracy, 9/20/16]: The author addresses
a critical aspect of the contraception-mandate litigation that is often
forgotten: Congress was entirely silent about how the ACA’s “preventive care”
mandate would affect free exercise.
Day 9: President Clinton fills first Supreme Court
vacancy with Debbie Wasserman Schultz . . . . [Sunday Rev. of Books in NY Times, 9/18/16]: Hillary Clinton took the
oath of office as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, Jan. 20,
2017, after defeating the thousandaire Donald J. Trump in the previous
November’s election. Since F.D.R., the first 100 days have come to be seen as
the defining moment of each presidency and are used to measure each new
president’s accomplishments. Here are the highlights of President Clinton’s
first 100 days as recorded near the end of her second term, in 2024, by her
official biographer, and recovered from a deleted email in 2025.
Reflections on the 'Natural Born Citizen'
Clause as Illuminated by the Cruz Candidacy [Laurence tribe, 9/15/16]: In this
article, based on remarks given at the Spring 2016 meeting of the American
Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Professor Laurence H. Tribe considers
the Constitution’s Natural Born Citizen Clause.
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:
The Fundamentals: Where Are We in this Strange Race
for President? [Sabato’s Crystal
Ball, 9/15/16]: And can Trump breach Fortress Obama? Trump got
some of the best polls he has enjoyed of the entire cycle on Wednesday, taking
leads in the must-win (for him) states of Florida and Ohio. Clinton is
struggling with concerns about her health, and her status as the frontrunner in
this race is eroding. Perhaps she can pull herself out of her tailspin, and the
upcoming debate on Sept. 26 should be a big moment. If she continues to sink,
the electoral map we have long tilted in her favor will be getting a lot
redder.
The Trump Surge. Or is it a Clinton Fall Back? [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 9/20/16]: And then,
everything changed. Well, not everything, but enough to generate the first
major revision in our electoral map, and all of it is in Donald Trump’s
direction for now.
Is The Supreme Court Ever Actually Going To Be An
Election Issue? [BuzzFeed, 9/18/16]:
Here's everything you need to know about the Supreme Court and the 2016
election.
Photographer Behind Donald Trump Jr.’s Skittle
Tweet Was a Refugee [Time,
9/21/16]: The photographer whose image of a bowl of Skittles was
tweeted out by Donald Trump Jr. in an
anti-refugee statement says he did not grant permission for its use — and that
he himself was a refugee.
Some Early End-Game Wisdom [Fox & Hounds,
9/20/16]: The stakes for the first Presidential debate on September 26 couldn’t
be higher. On paper, it looks like advantage Clinton on the basis of her mastery
of the issues and debate experience.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
Lawmakers collect thousands on top of salary while absent [AP,
9/20/16]: California lawmakers are compensated for their cost of living and
eating away from their homes when they travel to Sacramento to write and pass
bills, in addition to their six-figure salaries and benefits. Unlike many
states, however, California has loosely worded rules that allow lawmakers to
collect those payments regardless of whether they even show up to work.
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
Rejecting Voodoo Science in the Courtroom [WSJ,9/19/16]: The U.S. has relied on flawed
forensic-evidence techniques for decades, falsely convicting many.
Criminal Justice and
the Myth of a Rising Tide [Justia, 9/19/16]: Professor
Margulies breaks down the 'rising tide'
strategy of criminal justice and explains why this framework is ultimately
misguided in the case of drug policy. Margulies explains that neither the class
of drug nor the demographic of drug user is created equal within our criminal
justice system due to a variety of factors that he explores in this column.
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:
Defying the
Supreme Court, judges deal severe blow to separation of church and state [ThinkProgress,
9/20/16]: In its
2014 decision in Town of Greece v. Galloway, the Supreme Court upheld a town council’s practice
of inviting local clergy to deliver prayers at the beginning of its sessions.
At the time, many commentators warned that the Court’s decision was a body
blow to the wall of separation between church and state.
ACLU Seeks $233,058 For Costs Of Suing Kim Davis Over
Marriage Licenses [BuzzFeed,
9/20/16]: 'We hope to . . . send a message to government officials that willful
violations of individuals' rights will be costly,' an attorney for the
organization said
Colin Kaepernick and a
Landmark Supreme Court Case [New Yorker, 9/15/16]: The best answer to the anthem conundrum,
however, can be found in the most eloquent opinion in the history of the
Supreme Court. (Hint: See the title page of our Con Law textbook.)
Sometimes, it would
seem, artificial intelligence…isn’t [Newseum, 9/17/16]: As
we hurtle through the innovative and endlessly updated second decade of the
21st century, the prospects seem brighter and better than ever that our new web
and social media tools will help us better communicate and more effectively
confront serious challenges like terrorism.
California district
confronts controversy over Confederate flag displays on campus of high school
[NSBA Legal Clips, 9/17/16]: Rim of the World Unified School District. in compliance with
a California law that guarantees students the same free-speech rights on campus
as adults have in any public space, has allowed on-campus displays of
Confederate flags at Rim of the World High School.
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:
Denied: How
Texas keeps tens of thousands of children out of special education [Houston Chron, 9/17/16]: More than a dozen teachers and administrators from
across Texas say they delayed or denied special education to disabled students
in order to stay below the benchmark state officials set for the number of
students who should getsuch services.
International Law, Citizenship and
Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Former Serb commander goes on trial for war crimes [Jurist, 9/20/16]: Former Serbian paramilitary
commander Dragan Vasiljkovic went on trial for war crimes Tuesday in Croatia's Split
Court. Dragan is accused of torturing and murdering civilians and
prisoners during the Croation War for independence.
World War II Leak Case Is a Win for Edward Snowden
[Bloomberg View, 9/18/16]: The secrecy rules for
grand juries contain no exceptions for cases with historical importance. In an
important victory for historians, however, a divided appeals court is unsealing
testimony from a 1942 leak investigation after the Battle of Midway.
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