Posts for October 13, 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:
Let's Legislate From the
Supreme Court Bench [Linda Greenhouse in the NY Times, 10/13/16[: Last week, in response to a USA Today editorial deploring the
Senate’s refusal to act on President Obama’s judicial nominees, Senator
David Perdue, a Georgia Republican who sits on the Judiciary Committee, wrote
the reply, titled “I Say We Are Doing Our Job.” Really? And what job is that,
exactly?
Justices divided over jury
racism, privacy [USA Today, 10/13/16]: Can revelations about a
juror's racist statements scuttle a guilty verdict?
Divided We Stand [Washington Lawyer, 10/12/16]: Is obstructionism the new normal?
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 D.C. Circuit's
gratuitous ruling on CFPB constitutionality [Reuters, 10/11/16]: “The director of the CFPB possesses more unilateral
authority – that is, authority to take action on one’s own, subject to no check
– than any single commissioner or board member in any other independent agency
in the U.S. government,” wrote Judge Kavanaugh.
The Consumer Protection
Agency Is Unusual. It's Not Unconstitutional [Bloomberg / Yale Journal on Regulation,
10/12/16]: In one of the most stunning
rulings in recent years on separation of powers, the prestigious federal court
of appeals in Washington, DC, on Tuesday struck down the law creating the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- at least as the independent agency that
Congress designed. To cure what it saw as a constitutional defect, the court
ruled that the bureau’s head must not be independent of the president, but must
serve at his pleasure and be subject to his complete control.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Case Accusing Bush
Officials of 9/11 Abuses Heads to Supreme Court [Politico / Constitution
Daily, 10/12/16]: The Supreme Court
limped its way into a dispute over post-9/11 detentions Tuesday, announcing
that it will hear a long-running lawsuits on the issue but also indicating that
only the bare minimum of six justices may sit on the cases.
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:
Show this map to your
students!:
Where Do Clinton And
Trump Have The Most Upside? [538, 10/12/16]: Non-college-educated whites
are moving toward Donald Trump. Non-whites and college-educated whites are
swinging Hillary Clinton. We built a county-by-county model to show where
shifts in these groups could make the biggest difference.
Mixed Signals in the Race for the House [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 10/13/16]: Could Trump ruin what has otherwise been a decent Republican cycle?
The Danger of the Political Limelight [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 10/13/16]: The presidential
nominee getting more of the public’s attention tends to fare worse in the polls
President 2016: Georgia is back in play [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 10/13/16]: It now appears
that Georgia, like Arizona, is also moving back into play. See his Electoral
College map.
Trump Full of Dire
Predictions in Florida
[CNS, 10/12/16]: Donald Trump unloaded on his
Democratic rival during an appearance in Ocala, Florida on Wednesday, telling a
cheering crowd "the election of Hillary Clinton would lead, in my opinion,
to the almost total destruction of our country as we know it."
Notorious P.I.G.:
Rape Culture Meets Presidential Politics [Justia, 10/13/16]: Professors Grossman
and Brake analyze the infamous video of Donald Trump boasting about what he can
do to women, as well as the response of the Trump campaign. They argue that
Trump’s words in the video, and his non-apology following its release,
epitomize the formula that creates rape-prone culture: deny harm, deflect
responsibility, and normalize what happened.
Registration surges but GOP's share shrinks—1 in 3 new
voters is Latino [Calmatters, 10/12/16]: Sure, this presidential campaign has been
nasty, divisive and frequently in need of parental control settings. But for
how hard it’s been to stomach at times, this election season may be producing a
civic upside: Californians are registering to vote at rates not seen in 20
years.
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
Why San Francisco Rarely Sends Youth Directly to Adult
Court [KQED, 10/12/16]: It’s on
the ballot this November under Proposition 57, a broader criminal justice
reform initiative backed by Gov. Jerry Brown. If it passes, young people would
be required to have a hearing in front of a judge to determine whether their
trial would go to adult court or stay in the juvenile system.
Death sentence overturned
for Cleveland man convicted in 1985 murder [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 10/12/16]: Percy "June" Hutton, 62, was convicted in
1986 of fatally shooting Derek "Ricky" Mitchell and trying to kill
Samuel Simmons in a dispute over a sewing machine. He was sentenced to death in
1987.
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:
What a Court Got Wrong
About Dreadlocks and Race [Bloomberg, 10/12/16]: Is it
unlawful race discrimination for a company to ban dreadlocks in the workplace?
In a decision that has become a topic of debate
among law professors, a federal appeals court said no last month.
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:
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