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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