Posts for March 14, 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:
Atticus Finch, Perry Mason and Michael Clayton Have
Nothing on the Legal Profession's Favorite Attorney: Vinny [WSJ, 3/13/17]: The 1992 comedy 'My Cousin Vinny,'
with its smart-aleck hero played by Joe Pesci, is still a hit with lawyers; 'a
paean to the American system of justice.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor emphasizes
importance of broad education, empathy in her talk at Stanford [Stanford News, 3/13/17]: Sonia Sotomayor spoke about
the importance of broad education and charity.
http://news.stanford.edu/2017/03/10/justice-sonia-sotomayor-speaks-stanford/
It’s Time for the Gorsuch Hearings….
The stealth Supreme Court
nomination of Neil Gorsuch [CNN, 3/13/17]: Neil Gorsuch's
journey began with a covert mission in January. He snuck over to his neighbor's
house to meet two White House aides in a rental car. From there, the group
dodged camera crews and took country roads to a military base to board a plane
headed toward Washington.
Colorado's Neil
Gorsuch carries the weight of Washington [USA Today, 3/9/17]: President Trump's search for a Supreme Court justice
focused on the American heartland, far from the nation's capital. He found his
man 1,500 miles away in Colorado.
When Gorsuch
Promises 'Equal Right to the Poor [Prawfs bog, 3/13/17]: When he accepted the President’s nomination to Supreme
Court, Judge Neil Gorsuch went out of his way to praise other judges for adhering to “their judicial oaths to administer justice
equally, to rich and poor alike.”
Supreme Court Nominee Neil Gorsuch [Constitutional Accountability Center, 3/13/17]: Expected
by Big Business to be Another Reliable Vote on the Roberts Court.
This Is How Neil Gorsuch Thinks [NY Mag, 3/14/17]:
Democrats paralyzed as Gorsuch skates [Politico, 3/14/17]: The party is split over how
aggressively to oppose Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/gorsuch-supreme-court-democrats-confirmation-235941
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:
Roger Taney, Dred Scott families reconcile 160 years after
infamous Supreme Court decision [Baltimore Sun,
3/13/17]: Kate Taney Billingsley grew up struggling with her family
history. Her ancestor Roger B. Taney was the U.S.
Supreme Court chief justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision, issued March 6,
1857, that ruled Congress could not regulate slavery and that blacks could not
be considered U.S. citizens. She grew up hearing relatives debate a thorny
question: Should the family apologize to Scott's descendants for the decision?
DeVos Says the Real
Problem in Education Is the Federal Government [EdLawProfs Blog, 3/14/17]: The Every Student Succeeds Act is the popular title of
the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act. The Every Student Succeeds Act, however, stands apart from its
predecessors.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Spicer: Trump didn't mean wiretapping when he tweeted
about wiretapping [CNN, 3/13/17]:
The White House on Monday walked
back a key point of President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated allegation that
President Barack Obama wiretapped his phones in Trump Tower during the 2016
election.
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:
California Democratic, Republican Voter Registrations
Decline Sharply Post-Election [CPR, 3/13/17]: Californians who have
registered to vote since the November election are increasingly turning away
from both the Democratic and Republican parties. There's been “a 10-point drop
for both Democratic and Republican registrations,” says Paul Mitchell, who
tracks voter activity for consulting firm Political Data, Inc.
Federal judges: Texas guilty of illegally drawing voting
districts [Jurist, 3/13/17]: The court held
that the districts were intentionally drawn to either splitting Latino
communities into different districts or concentrating minority communities into
single areas to minimize the impact of their votes.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
White House analysis of Obamacare repeal sees even deeper
insurance losses than CBO [Politico, 3/13/17]: A White House analysis
of the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare shows even steeper coverage
losses than the projections by the Congressional Budget Office, according to a
document viewed by Politico on Monday.
5
takeaways from the CBO's report on Obamacare repeal [Politico, 3/13/17]:
Many Trump voters and states would lose big under the GOP health plan, while
Republican leaders can cling to budget savings.
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
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:
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:
11th Circuit: Discrimination against gay workers
not prohibited [AP, 3/13/17]: A federal
appeals court says employers aren't prohibited from discriminating against
employees because of sexual orientation. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled 2-1 that a 1964 civil rights law
doesn't protect against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation.
A New Phase of Chaos on
Transgender Rights [New Yorker, 3/13/17]: With a one-sentence order last week, the
Supreme Court dashed hopes of a big transgender-rights decision this term.
International Law, Citizenship
and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
California joins multi-state lawsuit against revised
immigration order [Jurist,
3/13/17]: California Attorney General Xavier
Becerra announced Monday that his state
would be joining Washington and Minnesota in their lawsuit
against President Donald Trump's revised executive order banning citizens from six
Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.
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