Posts for February 22, 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.
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:
The selling of Neil Gorsuch: Rafting, puppies and
Garland gushing [Politico, 2/21/17]:
The high court nominee's charm offensive is showing signs of working.
Does Donald Trump's Supreme Court Nominee Believe the
Constitution Is God's Law? [Mother
Jones, 2/21/17]: You may hear a lot about an arcane legal theory at Neil
Gorsuch's confirmation hearings. Natural law is a loosely defined term, but to
many of its conservative US adherents it is essentially seen as God's law—a set
of moral absolutes underpinning society itself. In recent years, natural law
believers have invoked this legal theory to defend a range of anti-gay
policies.
Like a prayer: A church-state case may be an early test
for Neil Gorsuch [The Economist,
2/21/17]: The Supreme Court nominee has emphasised the secular value of
religious rites.
Trump attack may reopen
debate on splitting Ninth Circuit in SF [SF Chron, 2/18/17]: Republican lawmakers have tried for decades to break up the nation’s
largest federal appeals court, and one of its most liberal. Trump didn’t
mention that issue at his news conference Thursday, but Tobias said the
president’s attack — he also called it a “bad court” — “promises to reignite
the Ninth Circuit split issue.”
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:
Federal Appeals court upholds Maryland assault rifle ban [Baltimore Sun / AP, 2/21/17]: A federal appeals court upheld Maryland's ban
on assault rifles, concluding that the powerful military-style guns outlawed by
the measure are not entitled to protection under the Second Amendment.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Trump takes new immigration
fight to 9th Circuit [Politico, 2/20/17]: The latest
battle is over the rights of detained immigrant children and teenagers to
immigration court hearings to determine suitability for release on bond.
Trump administration releases immigration enforcement
measures [Jurist, 2/22/17]: US Department
of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly officially issued on
Monday two memoranda to the department directing its workforce to implement two
executive orders on the enforcement of immigration laws.
Trump law helps oil companies hide bribes to foreign
governments [FAC, 2/21/17]: President Donald
Trump signed a law repealing a requirement that energy companies on the U.S.
stock exchange disclose any payments to foreign governments.
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:
An interesting
political quiz for your students (and you) [Build Quorum]: Are you a liberal? Conservative? Libertarian? This
quiz will let you know where you fall on the political spectrum in just 20
short questions. In truth, this isn't a quiz so much as a set of statements
that you must agree or disagree with. Simply answer these 20 questions and
we'll tell you if your views are liberal, conservative, libertarian, populist
or somewhere in the middle.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
In for a Pence: How Congress Can Smooth the Path for
Trump’s Removal via the 25th Amendment [Justia,
2/22/17]: Dean Falvy, a lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law
and attorney with an international business practice, explains how Congress
might be able to use the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump. Falvy
explains the difficulties in involuntarily removing a president under the 25th
Amendment and describes how Congress might get around these difficulties.
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
Supreme Court to decide whether guilty plea waives right
to challenge law [Jurist, 2/21/17]:
The Supreme
Court granted cert on Tuesday to
determine whether a guilty plea waives a defendant's right to challenge the
constitutionality of the statute under which he was convicted. The case, Class v. U.S., concerns a guilty plea made by Rodney Class to
possession of a firearm. Class lacked counsel at the time of his plea at his
own request. The appeals court ruled that because the defendant signed the plea
agreement, which included an explicit waiver of appeal rights as to his
conviction and sentencing, he has no standing to any appeal of this matter.
Supreme Court seems split
in case of boy's death near border [AP / Bloomberg / CNN / The Atlantic / NPR,
2/21/17]: The Supreme Court appears to be
evenly divided about the right of Mexican parents to use American courts to sue
a U.S. Border Patrol agent who fired across the U.S.-Mexican border and killed
their teenage son.
Appeals court considers constitutionality
of Ohio execution process [AP, 2/21/17]: At issue is whether a contested sedative, midazolam,
is powerful enough to put inmates into a deep state of unconsciousness before
two subsequent drugs paralyze them and stop their hearts.
Rejected Bid for
Firing Squad Triggers Dissent [CNS,
2/21/17]: Chiding their colleagues for turning down a death-row inmate’s bid to
face an Alabama firing squad, two Supreme Court justices said Tuesday’s
“decision permits states to immunize their methods of execution — no matter how
cruel or how unusual — from judicial review.”
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:
School Asks Teachers
To Take Down Pro-Diversity Posters, Saying They’re ‘Anti-Trump’ [Huff Post,
2/21/17]: School administrators in a 93 percent white Maryland
county recently asked high school teachers to take down pro-diversity
posters from classrooms because they perceived them as “political” and
“anti-Trump,” a school spokesperson told The Huffington Post.
Resistance to Trump takes some cues from the tea party [San
Diego U-T, 2/21/17]: Three times every day, now and for the foreseeable future,
Brina Bujkovsky is placing calls to Washington D.C. — one to her representative
in Congress and one to each of her U.S. senators.
Trump’s calling media ‘enemy
of the people’ triggers strong reactions [FAC,, 2/21/17]: Citing anonymous source stories, President Donald
Trump’s Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on “Face the Nation” that the
president was sincere in blasting the press as the people’s enemy.
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:
Trump revising Title IX
[EB Times, 2/21/17]: Obama-era transgender student protections at risk under
the new presidency.
International Law, Citizenship
and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Under Trump, illegal immigrants with traffic tickets to
be targeted for deportation [AP, 2/21/17]: The Trump administration is
greatly expanding the number of people living in the U.S. illegally who are
considered a priority for deportation, including people arrested for traffic
violations, according to agency documents released Tuesday.
Mexicans weigh the daunting prospect of deportee camps [AP,
2/21/17]: Now, under a sweeping rewrite of enforcement policies announced
Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, migrants might be dumped
over the border into a violence-plagued land where they have no ties while
their asylum claims or deportation proceedings are heard in the United States.
U.S. officials didn't say what Mexico would be expected to do with them.
Trump supporters applaud his new deportation guidelines [OC
Register, 2/21/17]: For Robin Hvidston, of We the People Rising, an
anti-illegal immigration group based in Claremont, the guidelines are Trump's
way of "seeking to keep the nation secure." "He's going forward
in the name of safety for the American public," Hvidston said. She was
pleased that the memo mentioned establishing an office within Immigration and
Customs Enforcement to assist families of those killed by undocumented
immigrants.
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