Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Posts for June 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:

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:

Texas House Approves a Doomed Abortion Law: Why? ]Justia, 6/7/17]: Professor Colb discusses legislation recently approved by the Texas House that will almost certainly be struck down as unconstitutionally restricting women's right to seek an abortion prior to fetal viability. Colb explains that the legislation is more speech than it is law and discusses some possible reasons the state would want to “speak” in this manner.

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Exclusive: Comey will stop short of saying Trump obstructed justice in Flynn probe, source says [ABC News, 6/6/17]: There will be much in former FBI Director James Comey’s upcoming congressional testimony that will make the White House uncomfortable, but he will stop short of saying the president interfered with the agency's probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, a source familiar with Comey's thinking told ABC News.

Trump tweets could create ethics headaches for DOJ lawyers [“On the Case” blog at Reuters, 6/6/17]: Ethics rules prohibit lawyers from presenting arguments in briefs and in court that they do not believe to be true. So how will President Trump’s defiant tweetstorm on Monday morning, disdaining the “watered down, politically correct” travel ban he signed after his original executive order was deemed unconstitutional, constrain Acting Solicitor General Jeffrey Wall and his DOJ team as they attempt to reinstate the travel ban at the U.S. Supreme Court?

Is Trump Trying to Lose? [Slate, 6/6/17]: Three ways Monday's bizarre tweetstorm sabotages his administration's defense of the travel ban.

Trump's Terrible Judicial Trifecta [The Daily Beast, 6/7/17]: Passing on alt-right conspiracies. Railing about 'teaching gayness.' Arguing for leniency to sentence minors to death. And these three nominees are expected to be confirmed easily.

How to Influence Trump [New Yorker, 6/7/17]: George Conway, the wealthy conservative lawyer and husband of Kellyanne Conway, President Trump's counsellor, prefers to stay in the background.

James Clapper says Watergate 'pales' in comparison with Trump and Russia scandal [The Guardian, 6/7/17]: Former US spy chief attacks the sharing of intelligence with Putin and says firing of James Comey ‘inexcusable.’

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:

Democrats pressed GOP to raise alarm on Russian 2016 infiltration
[McClatchy, 6/6/17]: It wasn’t just the National Security Agency that knew about Russian attempts to infiltrate U.S. voting systems. In the weeks leading to the 2016 presidential election, the then-leader of the Democratic National Committee warned the Department of Homeland Security that voter registration and absentee voting lists might have been sabotaged.

Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)

Suspense Builds as Senate Awaits Comey Testimony [CNS, 6/7/17]: Suspense is building as the Senate Intelligence Committee awaits Thursday’s appearance by former FBI Director James Comey, who will be making his first public comments since being fired by President Donald Trump in May.

White House lawyers face a Clinton-era legal trap in Russia probe [Politico, 6/7/17]: In Whitewater, communications with government attorneys were subject to review by special counsel -- something Trump may avoid now by relying on his own lawyer.

Is money bail here to stay in California? [Sac Bee, 6/6/17]: A major push to overhaul California’s bail system faces an unclear future after a significant political victory and defeat in quick succession last week.

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

ACLU finds 'over-policing' in Stockton Unified schools [EdSource, 6/6/17]: School police in the Stockton Unified School District arrested nearly 1,500 students in the last four years, with more than half of the arrests involving low-level misbehavior such as disturbing the peace or truancy, according to a new data analysis released Tuesday. 

Sixth Circuit Appeals Court Latest To Say Real-Time Cellphone Location Tracking Not A Fourth Amendment Issue [TechDirt, 6/6/17]: The Sixth Circuit Appeals Court is the latest to weigh in on cell site location info. It joins every other circuit that has handled the issue in deciding the gathering of cellphone GPS data by law enforcement is not a search under the Fourth Amendment.
You can read the decision in U.S. v. Riley at:

Ruling: San Diego officers used reasonable force when police dog bit sleeping woman [SD Union-Trib, 6/6/17]: A federal appeals court on Tuesday found that San Diego police used reasonable force when they released a dog during a late-night search for a potential burglar in a Pacific Beach office building, resulting in a bite injury to an employee sleeping on her sofa.

State Supreme Court skeptical about key death penalty provision [SF Chron / AP, 6/6/17]: A central feature of a ballot measure aimed at speeding up executions in California — its requirement that the state Supreme Court decide all death penalty appeals within five years — got an apparent thumbs-down from the court’s justices Tuesday and drew little support even from the measure’s defenders, who sought to recast the mandate as a nonbinding guideline.

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:

Free Speech Under Fire: The Future of the First Amendment [Journ. of Law & Policy, 12/2/16]: Thanks to the “Concurring Opinions” blog for a list of Symposium articles and papers, including this one:
Go to the Concurring Opinions site for many more:

Apples to Apples: Michigan Apple Farmer Files Religious Liberty Lawsuit [Newseum, 6/6/17]: An apple farmer in Michigan has filed a lawsuit against the city for allegedly excluding him from the farmers market because of his religious views on gay marriage.

Michelle Carter Trial Begins: Defense Argues Free Speech Protection [Newseum, 6/6/17]: A woman accused of causing her boyfriend to kill himself is on trial this week. Her defense team argues her speech was protected by the First Amendment. 

Neo-Nazi website raises $150,000 to fight Southern Poverty Law Center lawsuit [LA Times, 6/6/17]: A neo-Nazi blogger has been promised donations of more than $150,000 for his legal defense after the Southern Poverty Law Center sued him for organizing a “troll storm” against a Jewish woman in Montana.

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:

New high court challenge to labor unions follows 4-4 split [AP / National Constitution Center, 6/6/17]: Conservative groups are wasting little time in trying to deal a crippling blow to labor unions now that Justice Neil Gorsuch has joined the Supreme Court. A First Amendment clash over public sector unions left the justices deadlocked last year after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. But union opponents have quickly steered a new case through federal courts in Illinois and they plan to appeal it to the high court on Tuesday. The case is Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 31.
Read the cert petition at:

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

California, China sign climate deal after Trump’s Paris exit [AP, 6/6/17]: With President Donald Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, China and California signed an agreement Tuesday to work together on reducing emissions, as the state’s governor warned that “disaster still looms” without urgent action.


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