Thursday, January 12, 2017

Posts for January 12, 2017
These are the posts that are accumulated in our weekly newsletter which goes out throughout the school year. The posts are organized by the major units in our Constitutional Law (5th ed.) student textbook.

California lawmaker wants teens to learn to spot fake news [AP, 1/11/17]: Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez introduced a bill Wednesday to help high schools teach students to tell real news from fake. The Los Angeles Democrat said students should learn reasoning skills to assess what they read online. AB155 would commission new curriculum standards that include strategies for identifying false stories.

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:

U.S. states mull contraception coverage as Obamacare repeal looms [Reuters, 1/12/17]: Growing numbers of U.S. states are seeking to ensure that women have continued access to free birth control in case the insurance benefit is dropped as part of President-elect Donald Trump's vow to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Trump SCOTUS Short-Lister Gruender: Five Things to Know [Bloomberg / The Hill / Huff Post, 1/12/17]: President-elect Donald Trump has said he’ll choose someone from his short list of 21 potential high court nominees. Here are credentials of Eighth Circuit Judge Raymond W. Gruender.

How Barack Obama Transformed The Nation's Courts [Huff Post, 1/12/17]: He filled two SCOTUS seats and made the judiciary more diverse than ever; But the GOP stopped him from doing more.

Trump drops ‘no new deals’ pledge / Federal ethics czar delivers broadside against Trump conflicts plan [Politico, 1/11/17]: The top federal ethics official says Trump's conflicts of interest plan is 'meaningless.' 

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:

2018 Governors: Over-extended Republicans Seek to Thwart History [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 1/12/17]: When President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office eight days from now, he will be completing a remarkable journey, going from private citizen to the highest elected office in the nation without any elected stop in between. But while Trump is, to put it mildly, a unique figure in presidential politics, his journey is one that is we are increasingly seeing on a smaller scale at the gubernatorial level.

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

I See Your Immunity Doctrine And Raise You Another [Bloomberg, 1/12/17]: A battle of immunity doctrines—tribal versus official immunity—played out at the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 9 in Lewis v. Clarke.

ACLU publishes report on dangers of solitary confinement [Jurist, 1/12/17]: The report, titled "Caged In: The Devastating Harms of Solitary Confinement on Prisoners with Physical Disabilities," details how prisoners in solitary confinement are kept in small cells roughly the size of parking spots for approximately 22 hours a day, which has a negative impact on prisoners without disabilities and an even larger impact on those with disabilities.

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:

Libel case threatens another website [FAC, 1/12/17]: The TechDirt website is facing a $15 million lawsuit by a deep pocket antagonist who could well bankrupt the company the way billionaire Peter Thiel put Gawker Media down.

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:

Third Circuit issues major ADEA ruling creating circuit split [Reuter / CA3 blog, 1/12/17]: A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday became the first to hold that federal age bias law offers protections to 'subgroups' of older workers, saying three courts that ruled otherwise improperly restricted the scope of the law.

SCOTUS Struggles With Duty Owed to Disabled Students [Bloomberg, 1/12/17]: The U.S. Supreme Court struggled to articulate the duty schools owe to disabled students during oral argument Jan. 11 in Endrew F. v. Douglas Cty. Sch. Dist. RE-1.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that schools that accept federal money for educating disabled students provide those students with a “free appropriate public education.” What does that mean in practice?

Justices Face 'Blizzard of Words' in Special Education Case [NY Times, 1/11/17]: In a case that could affect the education of 6.7 million children with disabilities, the Supreme Court on Wednesday struggled to decide whether it should require public schools to do more under a federal law that calls for them to provide a free education that addresses the children’s needs.


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