Monday, October 3, 2016

Posts for October 3, 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:

Fighting Words  [The New Republic / AP, 10/3/16]: Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg is speaking out -- and what it means for the battles ahead.

Supreme Court Aims for a Boring Term [Bloomberg / Erwin Chemerinsky in the ABA Journal / Fox News, 10/2/16]: The Supreme Court term that starts Monday will be strange by design. 

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:

New Gallup Poll Shows 57% Of Americans Want A Major 3rd Party [Wash Post, 10/1/16]: A new Gallup poll shows nearly 6 in 10 Americans would like to see a third major party in American politics — a new high for a presidential election this century. 

Why Trump will do better in Ohio than he does nationally
[Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 10/3/16]: For the first time since Ohio rejected JFK in favor of Richard M. Nixon in 1960, it seems quite possible that the Buckeye State will find itself on the losing side of a presidential election this year.

Tim Kaine's Long, Conflicted History With The Death Penalty [BuzzFeed, 10/2/16]: As a lawyer, the Democratic vice presidential nominee took cases defending death-row inmates, arguing that parts of Virginia’s death penalty process made the system “shockingly unequal.” When he was governor, however, he allowed executions to proceed, even when some of those issues were raised again.

How Donald Trump would be able to not pay income taxes for 18 years [NPR, 10/3/16]: We don't really know what Donald Trump paid in taxes, because unlike every other major presidential candidate in the last four decades, the GOP nominee has refused to release his tax returns. 

Clinton: ‘My worries are not the same as black grandmothers' [Reuters, 10/3/16]: Hillary Clinton told a majority-black church in North Carolina on Sunday that she knows her grandchildren are growing up in a different world than many black youth in the U.S. who are concerned about police shootings and gun violence in their communities.

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

Political Roadmap: There's a reason why Jerry Brown signs so many bills [LA Times, 10/2/16]: Picture yourself, for a moment, as a member of the California Legislature who wants to get your bill signed into law.

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

How Can a Criminal Record Haunt You for the Rest of Your Life? [The Marshall Project, 10/2/16]: If you wind up in prison in the U.S., your punishment doesn’t necessarily end the day you serve out your sentence and go home. Former inmates reentering society often get ensnared in a web of laws that dictate their post-prison lives, from where they can live, to what they can do for a living, to whether they can ever vote.

A Defense of Shared Humanity: Criminal Justice and National Security [Justia, 10/3/16]: Professor Margulies discusses two primary areas of law he has practiced during his career. He explains how his time as a capital defense and civil rights attorney was a natural extension of his background in criminal defense investigation. Using an evocative example of a condemned individual deemed a threat to U.S. national security, Margulies shines a humanizing light on a demographic usually viewed as anything but by the American public in his argument against capital punishment.

Education Called Last Hope for Crime-Riddled Kern County [CNS, 10/3/16]: Kern County, whose police forces kill more people per capita than any other forces in the county, has gained another medal of dishonor: It has higher crime rates than Los Angeles County for all violent and property crimes. Experts say education is the only answer.

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:

10 First Amendment experts comment on legality of NYT release of Trump’s tax returns [Concurring Opinions, 10/3/16]: In light of what was written in the New York Times, they invited several First Amendment experts (practicing lawyers and noted scholars) to respond to the purported threat of litigation. Read the comments.

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:

International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]

Mohawk band forms indigenous legal system independent of Canada [Jurist, 10/2/16]: This marks the first instance of an indigenous people creating its own legal system in Canada.

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