Posts for July 15, 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:
Plot Thickens on Class
Member Test Awaiting SCOTUS Eye [Bloomberg, 7/13/17]: Two federal appeals courts may have muddied the waters
on the test for class action membership even further—just in time for the U.S.
Supreme Court to decide whether to take up the issue.
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]
Trump faces obstacles in
bid to re-shape key U.S. courts [Reuters, 7/14/17]: President Donald Trump's effort to reshape influential U.S. courts by
stocking them with conservative judges faces at least one significant
impediment: some of the courts best placed to thwart his agenda have liberal
majorities that are likely to stay in place in the short-term.
Trump Administration Asks Supreme Court To
Reverse New Limits On Travel Ban [Buzzfeed / Jurist, 7/14/17]: A
federal judge in Hawaii on Thursday has provided protections from the travel
ban for grandparents and some other family members, as well as additional
refugee protections.
U.S. officials probing Russian lobbyist who met Trump
team [Politico, 7/14/17]: U.S. officials are examining what role a
Washington-based lobbyist who they consider a Russian intelligence operative
may have played in a controversial June 2016 meeting he attended between Donald
Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer.
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:
Lampkin v. Connor [Gerard Magliocca in Concurring Opinions,
7/14/17]: “I am working away on my draft paper
arguing that the congressional reapportionment process is unconstitutional
under Section Two of the Fourteenth Amendment. In the course of my research,
I’ve uncovered a fascinating unknown (or at least unheralded) story about the
Civil Rights Movement.”
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
Senate Health Care Bill
Revisions Released In Attempt To Appease GOP Critics [NPR / Jurist,
7/13/17]: The new version comes after the
Congressional Budget Office found that the original BCRA would in the next
decade increase the uninsured population by 22 million over what it would
otherwise be. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had hoped for a vote
before July 4, but was forced to delay that because he couldn't garner the 50 votes he needed among the 52 GOP
senators.
http://www.npr.org/2017/07/13/537040114/senate-gop-releases-revised-affordable-care-act-repeal-and-replace-plan
http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2017/07/senate-introduces-new-healthcare-bill.php
http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2017/07/senate-introduces-new-healthcare-bill.php
Here are the hidden horrors in the Senate GOP's new
Obamacare repeal bill [LA Times, 7/14/17]: Senate Republicans unveiled
a new, “improved” version of their Affordable Care Act repeal bill Thursday, so
the treasure hunt is on: the search for provisions so horrifically inhumane
that they’ve had to be concealed deep in the measure’s legislative language and
procedural maze.
Barbara Lee fights for new debate over war on terror as
House leadership stonewalls [SJ Mercury News, 7/15/17]: Rep. Barbara
Lee last month reached a major milestone in her 16-year fight to repeal a key
authorization for the war on terror when a congressional committee unexpectedly
approved her amendment to repeal it.
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
When a Witness
Confronts the Accused: Is a Courtroom I.D. Fair? [Marshall Project,
7/14/17]: So far, two states say not
always, and try to limit the practice.
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:
Rowan County commissioners' prayer
practices again ruled unconstitutional [Salisbury (N.C.) Post / AP, 7/14/17]: By a 10-5 count, a federal court
on Friday ruled that Rowan County commissioners' prayer practices from 2007 to
2013 were unconstitutional.
Court sides with NY
archdiocese in major religious liberty decision [Catholic News Agency /
School Law Blog, 7/14/17]: A federal
court ruled Friday that the Archdiocese of New York had the right not to
[re]hire a diocesan school principal in a First Amendment religious freedom
decision.
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/court-sides-with-ny-archdiocese-in-major-religious-liberty-decision-20832/
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2017/07/federal_appeals_court_blocks_c.html
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/school_law/2017/07/federal_appeals_court_blocks_c.html
Podcast: The Band
that Must Not Be Named [Newseu, 7/14/17]: In this episode of The First Five we talk
to Simon Tam, founder of Asian-American band “The Slants,” and his free speech
case that went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Some Aspects of the Matal v. Tam Trademark
Case That Would Have Benefitted from More Explanation [Justia, 7/14/17]:
Amar comments on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Matal
v. Tam, in which the Court struck down as unconstitutional part of the
federal trademark registration statute that prohibits registration of disparaging
marks. Amar points out that the Court’s decision in Matal is difficult to
square with its reasoning and holding in Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of
Confederate Soldiers, a case from two years ago in which the Court
upheld Texas’s refusal to approve a specialty license plate design that made
extensive use of the Confederate flag image.
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:
Richland floral shop owner wants U.S.
Supreme Court to review discrimination ruling [Kennewick (WA.) Tri-City Herald, 7/14/17]:
Barronelle Stutzman is taking the discrimination case against her Richland
flower shop to the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. Court of Appeals
upholds Wisconsin's 'right-to-work' law [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/12/17]: A federal appeals court on Wednesday upheld
Wisconsin's law that bars collective bargaining agreements requiring workers to
pay union fees.
International Law, Citizenship
and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
First war-court hearing on
U.S. soil stops before it even gets started [Miami Herald / Reuters,
7/12/17]: A hearing to determine the status of a freed al-Qaida war criminal
stalled Wednesday over a question of which Pentagon-paid defense lawyers can
defend the Sudanese man who emerged as an al-Qaida affiliate spiritual leader
several years after his release from Guantánamo.
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