Posts for December 11, 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 (5^th ed.) student textbook.

I. Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Supreme Court deliberations on execution kept quiet [CNN, 12/10/16]: The last-minute legal drama that unfolded will remain shrouded from public view; a justice's vote in a motion for stay of execution is rarely explained.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/10/politics/supreme-court-deliberations-on-execution-kept-quiet-ronald-smith-john-roberts/index.html

II. Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Intel world struggles to crack the code of an untrusting Trump [Politico, 12/10/16]: Some fear that Trump's highly public rebukes of the U.S. intelligence apparatus will undermine morale in the spy agencies, politicize their work, and damage their standing in a world filled with adversaries. After all, if the U.S. president doesn't believe his own intelligence officials, why should anyone else?

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-intelligence-community-232463

III. The Political System: Voting and Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

California elector files suit, joins anti-Trump Electoral College push [Politico, 12/10/16]: A Democratic presidential elector from California has filed suit in support of an effort to block Donald Trump’s path to the presidency, the second such lawsuit filed in recent days.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/california-elector-files-suit-joins-anti-trump-electoral-college-push-232472

Democrats unnerved by Trump's reliance on generals [The Hill, 12/10/16]: Democrats are growing uneasy with the number of generals President-elect Donald Trump has tapped for his administration, citing concerns about the amount of sway the military will have in the government.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/309767-democrats-unnerved-by-trumps-reliance-on-generals

IV. Criminal Law and Procedure (4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th amendments) [See TOPICS 21-28 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit

Supreme Court weighs lawyers' actions in 2 death row cases [AP, 12/10/16]: Seven years before Thomas Sims defended Sammie Stokes in a South Carolina death-penalty trial, he had prosecuted Stokes for assaulting his ex-wife.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_DEATH_PENALTY

V. 1^st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

VI. 14^th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit: