Posts for June 2, 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:
Why Justice Kennedy May
Not Leave The Court Right Now [“Empirical SCOTUS” blog, 6/1/17]: The Supreme Court is not an institution with regular
turnover. Since the Justices have life tenure, many stay on well into old
age and often for decades. The Justices are insulated in their positions
for life and there is little incentive to move to other jobs. In fact,
the last Justice to leave the Court for a position outside the federal
judiciary was Justice Goldberg in 1965.
Nine at last,
Supreme Court justices sit for class photo ahead of busy month [CNN, 6/1/17]: As the cameras clicked, some justices smiled
broadly, others looked slightly annoyed with having to participate in a
formality that comes as the justices are racing to finish the last opinions of
the term.
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:
Jerry Brown defies Trump on world stage [Politico
/ AP, 6/1/17]: For the past two years, California Gov. Jerry Brown has been
aggressively recruiting other state and local governments to sign onto their
own, sub-national climate pact. But that campaign has taken new urgency under
President Donald Trump, who announced Thursday that he’ll withdraw the United
States from the Paris climate agreement.
Trump
administration reversing Obamacare's birth control mandate [USA Today,
6/1/17]: True to its word, the Trump administration is moving to reverse
Obamacare's requirement that most employers provide free coverage of birth
control to their employees. Health officials are drafting a regulation
rolling back the so-called "contraceptive mandate" that their
Democratic predecessors implemented following the Affordable Care Act's passage
in 2010, and which became the subject of two Supreme Court battles in 2014 and
2016.
The Rule of Law and the
Resistance Police [“Take Care” blog, 6/1/17]: Some members of the legal right have taken to
complaining loudly about claims that the Trump administration’s policies are
illegal. We’ll call this group “the resistance police”—the group of individuals
who, despite claiming to oppose many of Trump’s actions as a matter of policy,
spend their time either defending the legality of those very policies, or
shaming those who do not.
NRA loses appeal of
California firearm fee [Reuters / Trial Insider, 6/1/17]: The National Rifle Association failed to persuade a
federal appeals court to overturn a California law requiring that $5 of a $19
fee imposed on firearms transfers be used to fund enforcement efforts against
illegal firearm purchases.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
Why Trump Actually Pulled Out Of Paris [Politico,
6/1/17]: No, Trump’s abrupt withdrawal from this carefully crafted multilateral
compromise was a diplomatic and political slap: it was about extending a middle
finger to the world, while reminding his base that he shares its resentments of
fancy-pants elites and smarty-pants scientists and tree-hugging squishes who
look down on real Americans who drill for oil and dig for coal.
AP Fact Check: Holes
in Trump’s reasoning on climate pullout [AP, 6/1/17]:
Trump Takes Battle Over
Travel Ban to Nation's Highest Court [Bloomberg, 6/1/17]: President Donald Trump’s administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court
to immediately reinstate his stalled travel ban, aiming to reverse a string of courtroom
losses and setting up the biggest legal showdown of his young presidency. The request
puts a Trump initiative before the Supreme Court for the first time and brings
the nine justices into a national drama over claims that the president is
targeting Muslims and abusing his authority. The case will give the first
indications of how Chief Justice John Roberts’s court will approach one of the
most controversial presidents in the nation’s history.
Review the petition for the writ of certiorari:
Trump Exempts Entire
Senior Staff From White House Ethics Rules [The Hill, 5/31/17]: After a
pointed exchange with ethics officials, the White House has released a list of
waivers to Trump’s ethics rules—and Kellyanne Conway, Steve Bannon, and more
are exempted.
Can a sitting president be
indicted? The Constitution doesn't give a definitive answer [ABA
Journal, 5/31/17]: The prevailing view is that a president can’t be indicted
while in office, the New York
Times reports. Presidents can be prosecuted, however, after they
leave office or after impeachment, according to conventional wisdom.
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:
Racial gerrymandering can no longer be justified as proxy for party affiliation [Erwin Chemerinsky in the ABA Journal, 6/1/17]: Virtually every year, the U.S. Supreme Court has an important case concerning the use of race in drawing election districts. This reflects the confusing nature of the law in this area. This term is no exception, but its most recent ruling in Cooper v. Harris significantly changes and clarifies the law.
Warren urges resistance, sidesteps 2020 talk at
California event [Politico, 6/1/17]: Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren delivered a fiery call to political action to hundreds of women
activists in San Francisco, urging progressives to invest their energy in
resisting the Trump administration.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
If Trump
Tries to Silence Comey, Expect Sparks to Fly [Bloomberg, 6/1/17]: It isn't clear that the president can
keep their conversations confidential, especially because he's already
revealed them.
Single-payer healthcare plan advances in California
Senate — without a way to pay its $400-billion tab [LA Daily News,
6/1/17]: A proposal to adopt a single-payer healthcare system for California
took an initial step forward Thursday when the state Senate approved a
bare-bones bill that lacks a method for paying the $400-billion cost of the
plan.
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:
Religious liberty battle
still rages over gay marriage [USA Today, 6/1/17]: It's been nearly two years since the Supreme Court said gay and
lesbian couples have the right to marry. What it didn't say was whether bakers,
florists, printers and photographers could be forced to participate.
Supreme Court Plaza Is No Place for Protests
[CNS, 6/2/17]: A federal judge Wednesday dismissed claims from two religiously
motivated anti-war protesters who challenged the prohibition of political
speech on the grounds of the Supreme Court.
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:
Oregon governor signs bill easing gender
identification changes [6/1/17]: Governor Kate Brown signed a bill on Wednesday
that allows for transgender Oregonians to make updates to their birth
certificates without publicly doing so through the court system. Before the
legislation, amendments to document concerning people's names and genders were
required to be publicly posted by the courts.
California Senate approves third gender option bill [Jurist, 6/1/17]: California senators approved a bill in a
26-12 vote on Wednesday that will add a third gender option to state IDs for
people who identify as non-binary. The bill will next pass to the Assembly and,
if approved, will need to be signed by Governor Jerry Brown. Should Brown sign the bill,
California will be the first state to add a third gender option.
Lesbian appeals Mississippi court decision that she is
not legal parent [Jurist, 6/2/17]: Christina
Strickland, represented by Lambda Legal Counsel, filed an appeal on Thursday to
the Mississippi Supreme Court to challenge a lower court's ruling that she is
not a legal parent of her ex-wife's sons.
International Law, Citizenship
and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
When ICE agents show up at work, what should the boss do? [KPCC,
6/1/17]: The state Assembly has approved a bill that would require California
employers to ask federal immigration agents for a warrant before allowing them
into the workplace.
ABA urges Supreme
Court to hear case of Gitmo detainee held more than 15 years [ABA Journal,
6/1/17]: The ABA filed an amicus brief on
Wednesday that urges the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal by a Guantanamo
Bay detainee who has been held without trial for 15 years.
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