Posts for August 25, 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.

Who Is to Blame As the National Teacher Shortage Enters Its Third Year? [EdLawProfs blog, 8/24/17]: For the third year in a row, public schools will begin the year with too few qualified teachers to cover their classes.  Every state in the country has reported a shortage to the U.S. Department of Education.  The shortage appears to have eased in some places and intensified in others.  

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2017/08/who-is-to-blame-as-the-national-teacher-shortage-enters-its-third-year.html

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:

Flake hearing airs arguments to break up 9th Circuit [Politico, 8/24/17]: Senator Flake has proposed a bill to split the court’s jurisdiction, which currently covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and territorial districts in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/08/24/flake-hearing-ninth-circuit-242007

Should Judges Use Their Roles to Effect Social Change? [Slate, 8/24/17]: A dialogue about whether 'activist judges' are real.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/08/posner_rakoff_dialogue_on_how_judges_should_effect_social_changes.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:

A New Romance: Trump Has Made Progressives Fall in Love With Federalism [NY Mag, 8/24/17]: John Roberts dealt a crippling blow to Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, declaring that the requirement was essentially extortion: Agree to expand health-care coverage or lose all of your existing Medicaid funding. This, Roberts wrote, was akin to “a gun to the head” of the states, and thus unconstitutional. Blocking that kind of unlawful coercion is federalism in action, which conservatives have fought long and hard to defend as a local check against federal overreach. 

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/trump-has-made-progressives-fall-in-love-with-federalism.html

Carving California [Justia, 8/25/17]: Professor Amar comments on the proposal by Tim Draper to split California into several states. Amar highlights some of the legal issues with such a proposal.

https://verdict.justia.com/2017/08/25/carving-california

The American Presidency [TOPIC 15]

Versus Trump: Trump vs. The CFPB [“Take Care” blog, 8/24/17]: On this week’s episode of Versus Trump, Jason and Charlie talk about the Trump Administration's position in a lawsuit contending that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—commonly known as the CFPB—is unconstitutional, because its sole director does not serve at the pleasure of the President but instead serves a set term and can be terminated only for-cause.

https://takecareblog.com/blog/versus-trump-trump-vs-the-cfpb

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:

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:

Hate speech feeds pressures on First Amendment [FAC, 8/24/17]: Collected articles on this subject.

https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2017/08/hate-speech-feeds-pressures-first-amendment/

Free press: Trump builds dangerous new world for journalists [FAC, 8/24/17]: President Trump renewed his venomous attack on the press at his Tuesday, August 22 rally in Phoenix, calling the press “sick people” who “don’t like our country” and are “trying to takeaway our history and our heritage.”

https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2017/08/free-press-trump-builds-dangerous-new-world-journalists/

Berkeley denies permit for anti-Marxism rally [SF Chron, 8/24/17]: The organizers of the latest rally in Berkeley, billed by right-wing activists as a demonstration against Marxism, have been denied a permit by the city.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Berkeley-denies-permit-for-anti-Marxism-rally-11957279.php

Podcast: Call it What You Want [Newseum, 8/24/17]: Is requiring someone to have a license to call themselves a certain type of professional–like a psychologist–a violation of freedom of speech? In this episode, we talk to Mary Louise Serafine, who made that argument in front of the Fifth Circuit, and won. 

http://www.newseuminstitute.org/2017/08/24/podcast-call-it-what-you-want/

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:

India Supreme Court rules privacy a 'fundamental right' in landmark case [CNN / BBC / Times of India, 8/24/17]: In a sign of the digital times we live in, India's top court found itself deliberating a fittingly new-age question: Is privacy a fundamental legal right for 1.34 billion people? The answer is yes.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/24/asia/indian-court-right-to-privacy/index.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-41033954

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/supreme-court-gives-india-a-private-life/articleshow/60215360.cms