Posts for March 7, 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:
Republicans and the Constitution [New Yorker, 3/6/17]: Article V allows a method of
proposing amendments that cuts Congress out entirely; This partisanship is just
what our founders were trying to avoid.
Neil Gorsuch is exactly
the kind of Supreme Court justice we need [CNN, 3/6/17]: People talk endlessly these days about how divided Americans are, but
I'm not sure I believe it. Yes, it's true that Americans don't much agree on
politics at the moment. And we are as religiously and ethnically diverse as
we've ever been.
Will the new travel ban be blocked by the courts? [Eric Posner’s blog / Slate, 3/6/17]: Peter Margulies says no in Lawfare. The new ban excludes lawful
permanent residents, visa holders, and others with ties to the United
States—and gives notice, in these ways satisfying due process concerns. By
omitting mention of religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries, it
avoids establishment clause and equal protection concerns. Margulies also says
that the leaked DHS memos, which suggested that a travel ban would produce no
security benefits, are marred by errors.
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:
The Future of the Affordable Care Act [Nat. Constitution Center / Jurist, 3/6/17]: The National
Constitution Center has posted on YouTube at this link the
video of the
program.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
The Incentive to Leak Is Right in the Constitution [Bloomberg, 3/5/17]: The ongoing saga of contacts between Russian
officials and the Donald Trump campaign assures that the subject of government
leaks isn’t going away anytime soon. Although some critics have compared the
career bureaucrats suspected of doing the leaking to the “deep state” that has
bedeviled reformers in Egypt and Turkey, the First Amendment hasn’t been
brought into the conversation. It should be. As it turns out, there are
competing constitutional views about bureaucrats’ engagement with public
affairs.
GOP refuses to back Trump's wiretap claim [Politico,
3/6/17]: President Donald Trump will have to look somewhere besides
Republican-controlled Capitol Hill for backup to his explosive and
unsubstantiated charge that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump
Tower before the election.
Fact Check: Trump praises Exxon and himself for 2013 plan [AP,
3/6/17]: President Donald Trump is again citing corporate investments planned
before he took office as evidence that his policies are growing jobs and
business.
The disappearing Sean Spicer [Politico, 3/6/17]:
After two flayings on Saturday Night Live, sustained mockings on late-night
shows, and a series of televised confrontations with reporters, White House
press secretary Sean Spicer is retreating from the harsh glare of the daily
televised briefing.
While Trump tweets grab spotlight, appointees make
crucial changes [SF Chron, 3/6/17]: While President Trump’s angry
tweets and pugnacious public statements make the headlines, the growing number
of under-the-radar decisions and rule changes being carried out by his
political appointees throughout the government are far more likely to change
the direction of the country.
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:
States Ease Restrictions on Voting by Felons [WSJ, 3/5/17]: Florida proposal to lift its lifetime
ban would add to a nationwide trend.
State charter group takes off the gloves in battle with
CTA [Cabinet Report, 3/6/17]: Wealthy supporters of charter schools
have never been slow to put up big dollars backing candidates or ballot
measures they believe will help the movement. But the state’s umbrella
organization–the California Charter School Association–has traditionally been
far more circumspect when it came to picking fights. That may be changing.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
Californians could begin voting at age 17 under a new
proposal in the Legislature [SJ Merc, 3/7/17]: "We want to expand
the opportunity," said Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), author of the
constitutional amendment that would have to be approved by a statewide vote in
2018.
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 sides with
defendant claiming jury race bias / Justices
decline to extend ruling on repeat offenders [AP / , 3/6/17]: A juror's use of racial or ethnic slurs during
deliberations over a defendant's guilt can be a reason for breaching the
centuries-old legal principle of secrecy in the jury room, a divided Supreme
Court ruled Monday. The case, Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, is detailed
in our Con Law student text.
The opinions of the court can be found at:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-606_886b.pdf
Changing Places
[Justia, 3/6/17]: Professor Margulies explains
the recent trend in criminal justice reform in Seattle to alter conditions that
make a particular place criminogenic. As Margulies explains, most people and
places have no involvement in criminal activity, and crime—especially violent
crime—occurs at a tiny number of micro-places. Thus, the solution is not for
police to view crime as widespread throughout a particular neighborhood and
therefore increase police presence generally; rather, if they think of crime as
confined to a small number of people and concentrated at an even smaller number
of places, they can focus on working with, rather than against, communities to
make them safer.
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:
Newseum
to host special program on the Trump aministration’s first 100 days [Newseum,
3/7/17]: The program will convene members of the press, government officials
and First Amendment advocates to discuss First Amendment challenges in the
early days of the current administration.
Justice
Sotomayor expresses concern over Court’s ”true threat” jurisprudence [Newseum,
3/7/17]: What level of intent makes
someone’s words a true threat? She thinks the Supreme Court should
clarify. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor agreed with her
colleagues that the Court should deny review in a true-threat case out of
Florida, involving a man who uttered, while drunk, that he could blow up a
liquor store.
Prosecutors Win Back Broad Authority To Charge Supreme
Court Protesters [Buzzfeed, 3/3/17]:
A federal appeals court said that a lower court judge was wrong to strike down
a section of a law used to charge protesters in the Supreme Court as
unconstitutionally vague.
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:
Privacy: Apple
iPhone and Android phones hacked by CIA: WikiLeaks [SJ Merc, 3/7/17]:
Whether you have an iPhone or an Android phone, spooks from America’s spy
agency can hack it, siphon off your conversations and messages, and secretly
turn on your phone’s camera and microphone to spy on you. So says WikiLeaks
after making public March 7 a purported trove of thousands of leaked documents
from the U.S. spy agency.
U.S. Supreme Court
Returns Transgender Case to Appeals Court [School Law Blog / USA Today,
3/6/17]: The justices returned the case on transgender rights in schools to a
lower court in light of Trump administration's withdrawal of Obama-era guidance
on gender identity. The action is a defeat in the short term for Gavin Grimm, the
female-born student who now identifies as male, who was barred by a Gloucester
County, Va., school district policy from using the restroom that aligns with
his gender identity. The case is Gloucester County Sch. Bd. v. G.G.
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