Friday, May 5, 2017

Posts for May 5, 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:

What's Left for Supreme Court this Term? [Bloomberg, 5/4/17]: May and June are notoriously busy months at the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices have finished hearing oral arguments in new cases, and now turn to the herculean task of getting all those argued cases finalized before the term informally ends in late June.

Who is Arizona's second-most famous U.S. Supreme Court justice? [Arizona Republic, 5/3/17]: Anyhow, most may not realize that there's a second SCOTUS member with strong state ties – former associate and chief justice William Rehnquist, who served for 33 years from 1972 to 2005.

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 American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Court challenges to Trump policies may multiply [USA Today, 5/4/17]: When President Trump angrily tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT" following an appellate panel's ruling in February against his ban on immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, he probably didn't mean so many courts so soon.

Trump Eases Political Limits for Religious Groups [CNS, 5/4/17]: President Donald Trump on Thursday will sign an executive order doing away with an IRS rule that says religious organizations and other nonprofits that endorse political candidates risk losing their tax-exempt status.

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 Senate Approves Earlier Presidential Primary [KQED, 5/4/17]: California is one step closer to having the third presidential primary in the nation, after the state Senate today overwhelmingly approved a bill to schedule future primary votes in March.

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

House OKs GOP health bill, a step toward Obamacare repeal [AP / CNS, 5/5/17]:  Relieved Republicans muscled their health care bill through the House Thursday, taking their biggest step toward dismantling the Obama health care overhaul since Donald Trump took office. They won passage only after overcoming their own divisions that nearly sank the measure six weeks ago. 

Senate GOP rejects House Obamacare bill [Politico, 5/4/17]: 'Any bill that has been posted less than 24 hours ... needs to be viewed with suspicion,' Sen. Lindsey Graham says.

Republican-led House panel votes to gut Dodd-Frank financial law [AP, 5/5/17]: House Republicans took a major step toward their long-promised goal of unwinding the stricter financial rules created after the 2008 crisis, pushing forward sweeping legislation that would undo much of President Barack Obama’s landmark banking law.

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

Top Kansas court to revisit death penalty in Wichita murders [AP, 5/5/17]: Kansas' top court wrestled Thursday with whether it can mandate new, separate sentencings for two brothers facing execution for four notorious slayings that became known as "the Wichita massacre."

Police Don't Need a Search Warrant to Use Your Cell Phone Records to Track Your Location. Will SCOTUS Do Something About it? [Reason, 5/5/17]: The Supreme Court is asked to give the third-party doctrine a second look.

'Scathing' ruling by Houston federal judge finds Harris County's cash bail system unconstitutional [ABA Journal, 5/1/17]: In what the Houston Chronicle called “a scathing denouncement,” a federal judge ruled Friday that the cash bail system used in Harris County, Texas, is unconstitutional because it’s fundamentally unfair to the poor.

Supreme Court rules police don't need warrant to get past cell phone location data [Munster (Ind.) Times, 5/4/17]: Hoosiers planning to commit a crime probably should leave their mobile phones at home — unless they want to make it easier for police to nab them. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that individuals have no privacy expectation under the Fourth Amendment in historical location data collected by their telephone company when their wireless phone is in use.

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:

Four California high school students sue district over suspensions for ‘liking' racist Instagram posts [AP / SF Chron, 5/4/17]: Four California high school students have sued a school district after they were suspended over their responses to Instagram posts that included a black student and coach with nooses around their necks.

Fight against fake news generating steam [FAC, 5/4/17]: A report on a February Harvard conference on fake news identified ways to conduct further research on the topic and enumerated ways to reduce fake news. 

Supreme Court Protesters Plead Guilty To Misdemeanor Charges [Buzzfeed, 5/4/17]: Five men and women who staged a Citizens United protest during Supreme Court proceedings pleaded guilty after losing a constitutional challenge on one of the charges. They face up to a year in jail.

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:

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