Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Posts for November 22, 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:

Will John Roberts Save the Supreme Court From Donald Trump? [Slate, 11/21/16]: Maybe not -- but he might.

Justice Thomas on the Electoral College [Gerard Magliocca in “Concurring Opinions,” 11/21/16]: Do we need to rethink some premises about constitutional law in given that the Electoral College has now produced a popular-vote loser as President in two of the last five elections? 

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 American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Trump Summons TV Figures for Private Meeting, and Lets Them Have It [Politico, 11/21/16]:  Mr. Trump, whose antagonism toward the news media was unusual even for a modern presidential candidate, described the television networks as dishonest in their reporting and shortsighted in missing the signs of his upset victory. 

Trump has Unleashed Forces that Put the Vulnerable at Risk, Which Means the Private Sphere Will Have to Step Up to Protect Them [Justia, 11/22/16]: Professor Hamilton describes three individuals named to lead Donald Trump’s presidency who will threaten already-vulnerable communities. Hamilton argues that Mike Pence, Stephen Bannon, and Jeffrey Sessions are likely to reduce or eliminate the rights of gays, women, minorities, and children over the next four years unless the private sector steps up.

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:

Court Strikes Down Wisconsin’s ‘Partisan Gerrymander’ [CNS, 11/21/16]: Republican redistricting crossed the line into unconstitutional gerrymandering in Wisconsin, divided panel of federal judges ruled Monday, handing a rare victory to Badger State Democrats.

Why California Takes So Darn Long To Count Its Votes [CPR, 11/21/16]: Two weeks after Election Day, two California propositions and numerous local races remain too close to call. That’s because counties estimate there are still more than two million unprocessed ballots.

Trump Campaign Fund Errors Abound [CNS, 11/22/16]: President-elect Donald Trump received a formal request from the Federal Election Commission to address his latest financial filing, which contained over 1,000 campaign contribution errors totaling $1.3 million.

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

Trump election raises stakes for Brown's 'last shot' in California [Politico, 11/21/16]: Writing in Fox & Hounds Daily a day after the election, columnist Joe Mathews suggested that California would “soon have two presidents,” positioning the governor of the nation’s most populous state as a Democratic counterweight to Donald Trump.

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

New York governor launches anti-hate crime initiative [Jurist, 11/21/16]: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled statewide initiatives to combat hate crime and protect civil rights on Sunday. While addressing the congregation at Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church he proposed the addition of a hate crimes unit in the state police as well as legislation to increase protection against discrimination against public school students. 

Hearings on U.S. Spying Authority Drives Records Demand [CNS, 11/21/16]: The American Civil Liberties Union has asked a federal judge to force production of the records it wants on warrantless mass-surveillance programs.

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:

Trump Drives Teens to Demonstrate Though They Can't Vote [AP, 11/21/16]: A high school senior, Yaocihuatl Reyes didn't pay much attention to the presidential race until she found her teacher sobbing and her east Los Angeles classmates terrified that the election of Donald Trump would lead to the deportation of their families.

Trump Cancels Meeting With New York Times [CNS, 11/22/16]: President-elect Donald Trump abruptly canceled a meeting with The New York Times on Tuesday, accusing the organization of changing the conditions for the session “at the last moment.” The newspaper denied the charge and said Trump’s aides tried to change the rules.

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:

South Carolina transgender student charged with assault and disturbing schools in altercation with school resource officer over attempted use of boys’ restroom at school [NSBA Legal Clips, 11/21/16]: Kinsey Lynn Evans, a transgender student at Pickens County Career & Technology Center (CTC), has been charged with third-degree assault and disturbing school after an altercation with Deputy Carmen Lehmann, the school’s resource officer. According to the incident report, Evans, who used the boys’ bathroom on the first day of school, was asked by Ken Hitchcock, CTC’s director, to use the male faculty/staff restroom, as he had done the previous school year.

Drug testing: Tech firms adopt ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ stance on cannabis use [Bay Area News Group, 11/21/16]: Your boss may not care if you smoke weed when you’re not at work. But then again, you might get fired. 

Danville: Sixth incident of racist graffiti at SRV schools [EBT / KPCC, 11/21/16]: Another example of what authorities are calling “racist and homophobic” graffiti was reported over the weekend scrawled on a “Traffix” school bus, San Ramon Unified School District officials said Monday.

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

Undocumented Students Fear Returning to Shadows Under Trump [KQED, 11/21/16]: Mitzia Martinez felt so shellshocked after the presidential election that the 19-year-old UC Berkeley student holed up in her apartment for days, away from her friends and her classes. Martinez needed to make sense of the massive changes her life could face under a Trump administration.

UN report: Israel bill legalizing West Bank outposts violates international law [Jurist, 11/21/16]: A proposed Israeli law legalizing more than 100 outposts in the occupied West Bank would violate Israeli and international law, stated a UN Special Rapporteur on Monday. Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, warned that the legalization of the outposts could spell the demise of the two-state solution. 


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