Posts for July 6, 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 (5^th ed.) student textbook.

I. Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Should There Be Age Limits for Federal Judges? [Slate, 7/5/17]: A dialogue on when it's time to remove jurists from the bench.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/07/should_there_be_age_limits_for_federal_judges.html

II. Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Trump Issues Sharp Warning to North Korea [CNS, 7/6/17]: President Trump opened his two-day European visit Thursday with a sharp warning to North Korea over its first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this week.

http://www.courthousenews.com/trump-warns-severe-consequences-north-korea/

The Most Important Question for Trump Judicial Nominees [Slate, 7/5/17]: How much executive authority do they think the president has?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/07/the_most_important_question_for_trump_judicial_nominees_going_forward.html

III. The Political System: Voting and Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Advocacy group files lawsuit to void Congressional election results [Jurist, 7/6/17]: Voters used electronic, touchscreen voting ballots, as opposed to paper ballots. The lawsuit calls out major security problems with the voting system, as well as problems concerning verifiability. 

http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2017/07/group-files-lawsuit-to-void-congressional-election-results.php

Democrats’ woes go beyond Nancy Pelosi [SF Chron, 7/5/17]: If you’re a Democratic officeholder, it’s not a compliment when President Trump tweets that he hopes you’re not forced out of your job because “that would be very bad for the Republican Party.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Democrats-woes-go-beyond-Nancy-Pelosi-11268441.php

Generic Ballot Model Gives Dems Early Advantage in Battle for Control of House [Sabato’s Crystal Ball, 7/6/17]: Results of recent special elections have fueled speculation about whether Democrats have a realistic chance to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections. Although Republican candidates have won recent special elections for seats vacated by President Donald Trump’s Cabinet appointees in Georgia, Kansas, Montana, and South Carolina, the GOP victory margins in all four contests have been much smaller than those for the former Republican incumbents in 2016.

http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/generic-ballot-model-gives-democrats-early-advantage-in-battle-for-control-of-house/

America's Future Is Texas [New Yorker, 7/4/17]: With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state's demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation's bellwether.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/10/americas-future-is-texas

IV. Criminal Law and Procedure (4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th amendments) [See TOPICS 21-28 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit

V. 1^st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

VI. 14^th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Here are some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

Legacy Preferences at State Universities [Gerard Magliocca in Concurring Opinions, 7/5/17]: Here’s a question that I want to pose. There’s a pretty good argument that can be made against the constitutionality of legacy (i.e., children of alumni) admission preferences at state universities.  My friend Carlton Larson wrote a great article about this years ago.  Why, then, don’t we see any litigation challenging these preferences?

https://concurringopinions.com/archives/2017/07/legacy-preferences-at-state-universities.html

Marriage Equality May Soon Be in Peril [Slate, 7/5/17]: How the Supreme Court could overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/07/how_the_supreme_court_could_overturn_obergefell_v_hodges.html

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

Immigrant Minors Have Right to Bail Hearings [Trial Insider, 7/5/17]: Juveniles held in immigration detention centers have a right to bail hearings under a 1997 court settlement that established a national policy for the detention, release and treatment of minors held by immigration authorities, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

http://www.trialinsider.com/?p=6842

Poland seeks extradition of Minnesota man accused of Nazi war crimes [Jurist, 7/5/17]: Michael Karkoc, 98, is a former commander of an SS-led Nazi unit responsible for burning Polish villages and killing civilians during World War II.

http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2017/07/poland-seeks-extradition-of-minnesota-man-accused-of-nazi-war-crimes.php