Posts for May 10, 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 (5^th ed.) student textbook.

I. Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Taking Down Terrorists in Court [New Yorker, 5/15/17]: Zainab Ahmad has prosecuted thirteen international terrorist suspects for the American government. She hasn’t lost yet. Ahmad and her colleagues have been working meanwhile to develop, with considerable quiet success, a criminal-justice alternative to Guantánamo. It’s a high-wire act. The public has unique expectations of law enforcement with respect to terrorism. “When there’s a bank robbery, we try to solve the crime,” Ahmad said. “But nobody thinks our job is to stamp out bank robbery. Terrorism is different. People expect us to prevent it.”

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/15/taking-down-terrorists-in-court

Anthony Kennedy's Choice [The Atlalntic, 5/10/17]: The Supreme Court's conservative swing vote faces a fateful decision.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/05/anthony-kennedys-choice/526071/

II. Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

How Trump Will Transform the Federal Courts [Slate, 5/9/17]: One young judge at a time.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/05/how_trump_will_use_young_judges_to_transform_the_federal_courts.html

Trump Poisons His Own Laws [Slate, 5/9/17]: The latest oral arguments over the administration's travel ban show how the president's words and intentions taint his agenda and the lawyers who defend it.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/05/trump_s_solicitor_general_tries_and_fails_to_argue_that_the_president_is.html

Trump pulls from Nixon's playbook [Politico, 5/9/17]: The president is the first since Watergate to fire an official in the middle of investigating potential misconduct by his own campaign. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/09/trump-comey-nixon-firing-watergate-238189

Behind Comey’s firing: An enraged Trump, fuming about Russia [Politico, 5/10/17]: The president deliberated for more than a week before ousting the FBI chief who was investigating Trump associates.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/10/comey-firing-trump-russia-238192

Feinstein, Harris Reactions to Comey Firing a Study in Contrasts [KQED, 5/9/17]: Moments after news broke Tuesday that President Donald Trump had fired FBI Director James Comey, reaction from California’s representatives in Congress began spilling out across the internet. And, the initial reactions of Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris bring into sharp relief how different these two U.S. senators are. 

https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/05/09/feinstein-harris-reactions-to-comey-firing-a-study-in-contrasts/

III. The Political System: Voting and Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

President Kamala Harris? She’s making the first moves [Sac Bee, 5/9/17]: Now's the time prospective presidential candidates start taking the subtle but crucial behind-the-scenes steps that get them noticed by the political intelligentsia, and Sen. Kamala Harris is quietly following the script. The speculation is not going away, not with the absence of a clear Democratic presidential frontrunner and the party desperately in search and in need of a new generation of leadership.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/article149309469.html

Study: Law stymied Wisconsin voters [AP, 5/8/17]: State Sen. Mary Lazich was adamant: The bill Republicans were about to push through the Wisconsin state Senate, requiring that voters present identification at the polls, would do no harm.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/voter-id-law-proved-insurmountable-for-many-in-wisconsin/article_408d1ad4-33cb-56aa-9635-45f6699c4af5.html

Schumer calls for special prosecutor, suggests cover-up [Politico, 5/9/17]: Republicans largely rejected Democrats' demand and backed Trump's decision to fire Comey. 

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/09/comey-firing-congress-reaction-238180?lo=ap_c1

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

Technical amendments: Below the radar, but crucial [Capitol Weekly, 5/9/17]: Lawmakers often alter bills as the measures move through committees and floor votes — it’s part of life in the Capitol. A legislator’s beloved bill introduced in February may have little resemblance to the measure approved (or defeated) in August.

http://capitolweekly.net/amendments-technical-below-radar/

Don't Count On The Senate To Save Obamacare, Or To Save The House [NPR, 5/7/17]: In the Rose Garden last week President Trump and the House Republican leadership celebrated their vote to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act as though it had actually repealed and replaced the 2010 law colloquially known as Obamacare. It had not, of course. Several more giant steps remain in the process. And more than a few of these same Republicans may well be grateful. In reality, the House has shoveled a mammoth pile of problems off its porch and onto that of the U.S. Senate. That chamber has announced it is writing its own bill. That is common knowledge, and more than a few House votes were cajoled with assurances that "the Senate will fix" this problem or that.

http://www.npr.org/2017/05/07/527127968/dont-count-on-the-senate-to-save-obamacare-or-to-save-the-house

IV. Criminal Law and Procedure (4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th amendments) [See TOPICS 21-28 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit

California police scramble to detect drugged driving [AP, 5/1-/17]: Joseph Brenan, a 40-year-old father of four, was changing a flat tire along Interstate 80 near Sacramento when he was struck and killed by a passing motorist who had drifted onto the shoulder of the highway. The California Highway Patrol arrested Brandon Rotolo, 24, on suspicion of driving under the influence of marijuana and vehicular manslaughter.

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CA_CALIFORNIA_MARIJUANA_DRUGGED_DRIVING_CAOL

A Fresh Take on Ending the Jail-to-Street-to-Jail Cycle [Marshall Project, 5/9/17]: For troubled repeat offenders, a chance at a supportive place to live.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/05/10/a-fresh-take-on-ending-the-jail-to-street-to-jail-cycle?ref=hp-1-112#.yZQc7WqJS

“Stealthing”: Is Secret Condom Removal Akin to Sexual Assault? [Justia, 5/10/17]: Professor Colb comments on “stealthing,” a practice in which men surreptitiously remove their condoms while having intercourse. Colb considers whether the practice is best characterized as sexual assault, as some have argued, or whether it is a different kind of harm that should be addressed through a different set of legal processes.

https://verdict.justia.com/2017/05/10/stealthing-secret-condom-removal-akin-sexual-assault

V. 1^st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Reporter Arrested for Shouting Questions at Health Secretary [CNS, 5/10/17]: A West Virginia reporter was arrested Tuesday after yelling questions to Tom Price, the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary.

http://www.courthousenews.com/reporter-arrested-shouting-questions-hhs-secretary/

VI. 14^th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]

HRW: dangerous healthcare conditions in US immigration centers [Jurist, 5/9/17]: Advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Monday that there are "systemic failures, such as unreasonable delays in care and unqualified medical staff leading to "dangerously subpar" medical care in US immigration detention centers. 

http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2017/05/hrw-dangerous-healthcare-conditions-in-us-immigration-centers.php