Monday, December 12, 2016

Posts for December 12, 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:

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:

Three Challenges Aim to Give Rights to Fetuses [Bloomberg, 12/11/16]: Last week, the Ohio legislature passed a law banning abortion after the first fetal heartbeat can be heard. Texas enacted rules requiring that aborted fetuses be buried or cremated. And in Louisiana, a private trust purporting to act on behalf of 5-day-old frozen embryos sued the actress Sofia Vergara demanding that they be implanted in a uterus so they could be born. All three developments are legally questionable, to say the least. The Ohio bill is clearly unconstitutional, the Texas law may be, and the Louisiana lawsuit would cause upheaval in the assisted reproduction community should it succeed. Yet all three signal the durability of the idea that the unborn have legal rights -- a position the U.S. Supreme Court has never adopted.

If Trump Won’t, Can California Sign the International Climate Treaty? [KQED, 12/12/16]: With President-Elect Trump’s pro-fossil fuel rhetoric and the future of the international climate treaty looking cloudy, some are hoping California take over leadership on the international stage.

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Donald Trump Says He Doesn’t Need Daily Intelligence Briefings Because He’s a ‘Smart Person’ [TIME, 12/11/16]: Trump, who currently receives the presidential daily brief just once a week, said in an interview with Fox News Sunday that he only requires the information if something has changed.

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:

Democrats fear another Trump trouncing [Politico, 12/12/16]: Leaderless and lacking a strategy, top party officials worry they're not ready for Trump's first 100 days. 

The Field Poll is Dead: Long Live the Field Poll [CalBuzz, 12/12/16]: The sudden death of the Field Poll, announced Friday, marks a terrible loss for public opinion research in California. It wasn’t perfect, when the late great Mervin Field ran it or after, under our friend and colleague Mark DiCamillo. But it was scientific, non-partisan, transparent and reliably accurate. 

Trump Claims ‘Massive Landslide Victory’; and Now, Some Facts [NPR, 12/11/16]: President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t seem to like suggestions that his victory over Hillary Clinton was anything but HUGE. Trump made false claims that Clinton’s lead in the popular vote was due to illegal voting.

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

Connecticut case challenges use of cellphone tower evidence [AP, 12/11/16]: An appeal before the Connecticut Supreme Court is adding to the divided legal landscape nationwide surrounding the validity of cellphone tower evidence used in criminal trials.

Bundy Defendants Get Saucy With Judge [CNS, 12/12/16]: Brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy on Friday refused to participate in a federal hearing with their father and 13 other defendants charged with 16 felonies arising from their April 2014 standoff with federal agents.

 

Justices to Answer Drug Forfeiture Question [CNS, 12/12/16]: The Supreme Court agreed to resolve a circuit split over whether a person convicted of selling products to make drugs should be required to forfeit store profits.

Congress sends bill to Obama regarding racially motivated killings [Jurist, 12/11/16]: The US Congress on Saturday passed legislation that would continue reviews of racially motivated killings in the civil rights era. The bill indefinitely extends a 2007 law, which expires next year, that calls for a full and complete accounting of racial killings, many of which have been closed cases for decades. 

California prison record system cost doubles to $386 million [AP, 12/11/16]: A massive project to modernize medical record-keeping for California prison inmates has more than doubled in cost from original estimates to nearly $400 million in just three years, the latest in a long string of computer projects that have befuddled state government.

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:

Gawker's Demise and the Trump-Era Threat to the First Amendment [The New Yorker, 12/19/16 and 12/26/16 issues]: Hulk Hogan's smashing legal victory shows us that publishing the truth may no longer be enough.

Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, and the Modern Whistleblower [The New Yorker, 12/19/16 and 12/26/16 issues]: From their backgrounds to their motivations, the two men have some striking differences.

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]

America’s Toughest Immigration Court [The Marshall Project, 12/11/16]:
Welcome to Stewart Detention Center, the black hole of the immigration system.

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