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:
No comments:
Post a Comment