Posts for August 27, 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.

What We're Reading This Week: August 25 [Teaching Tolerance, 8/25/17]: A weekly sampling of articles, blogs and reports relevant to TT educators.

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/what-were-reading-this-week-august-25

Court Battles [ACLU, 8/26/17]: Featured cases in the ACLU’s court battles

https://www.aclu.org/defending-our-rights/court-battles

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:

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]

Is Anybody Home at HUD? [NY Mag, 8/25/17]:  A long-harbored conservative dream — the “dismantling of the administrative state” — is taking place under Secretary Ben Carson.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/ben-carson-hud-secretary.html

The Pardon of the Arizona Sheriff

How Will the Supreme Court Respond to the Arpaio Pardon? [The Atlantic / Slate / “Impeachable Offenses?” blog / “Dorf on the Law” blog, 8/27/17]: Though its major import is President Trump's official endorsement of racist discrimination in law enforcement, a flagrant contempt for judges is the subtext.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/how-will-the-courts-respond-to-the-arpaio-pardon/538137/

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

https://impeachableoffenses.net/2017/08/26/pardoning-arpaio-the-first-verifiable-impeachable-offense/

http://www.dorfonlaw.org/2017/08/the-arpaio-pardon-through-lens-of-trump.html

Why Trump’s Pardon of Arpaio Follows Law, Yet Challenges It [Adam Liptak in the NY Times, 8/26/17]: Mr. Trump thus used his constitutional power to block a federal judge’s effort to enforce the Constitution. Legal experts said they found this to be the most troubling aspect of the pardon, given that it excused the lawlessness of an official who had sworn to defend the constitutional structure.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/26/us/politics/trump-pardon-joe-arpaio-constitution.html

Trump was wrong to pardon controversial sheriff, Ryan says [Reuters, 8/26/17]: President Donald Trump should not have pardoned a former Arizona sheriff who was convicted of criminal contempt in a case of racial profiling, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, said on Saturday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-harvey-houston-idUSKCN1B60PN

Schiff: Trump's Arpaio pardon undermines Russia probe [Politico, 8/26/17]: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Saturday that President Donald Trump's pardon of former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio could reverberate in the Russia investigation. The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee wrote on Twitter that Trump-aligned witnesses might be inclined to not cooperate with investigators, since the president has shown his willingness to pardon allies.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/26/schiff-trump-arpaio-pardon-russia-probe-242067

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:

Primary buzz already growing amid Trump political struggles [AP, 8/16/17]: Mark Cuban isn't ready to launch a formal campaign to challenge President Donald Trump. Yet Cuban, an outspoken Texas billionaire who describes himself as "fiercely independent" politically, sees an opportunity for someone to take down the Republican president, who is increasingly viewed as divisive and incompetent even within his own party. No president in the modern era has been defeated by a member of his own party, and significant political and practical barriers stand in the way.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TRUMP_2020_CHALLENGERS

Willie Brown: Trump leading his followers into a 3rd party [SF Chron, 8/26/17]: The U.S. now has a third political party — it’s called Trump. Did you catch how President Trump repeatedly referred to his supporters at his Phoenix rally last week? Not as Republicans, but as the “movement.”

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Trump-leading-his-followers-into-a-3rd-party-11969041.php

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

Hate crimes are up in L.A. [KPCC, 8/26/17]: A new report shows hate crimes in Los Angeles have increased during the first half of the year, including an uptick in violent crimes. The LAPD reports a 12.6-percent jump over the same period last year. That translates into 161 cases in 2017 compared with 143 in 2016.

http://www.scpr.org/news/2017/08/26/75069/hate-crimes-are-up-in-l-a/

Judges must decide when prisoner should be shackled [Ariz. Capitol Media Services, 8/26/17]: An appeals court on Friday slapped down Arizona federal judges for ignoring their order limiting when prisoners can be shackled.

http://www.havasunews.com/news/judges-must-decide-when-prisoner-should-be-shackled/article_3757d64c-8a21-11e7-b104-0b34fea21a9c.html

18 inmates to get execution dates after California Supreme Court ruling [SF Chron, 8/26/17]: The clock is ticking again on executions in California.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/18-inmates-to-get-execution-dates-after-11981439.php

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:

Patriot Prayer leader ends up at Crissy Field after all  [SF Chron / KQED, 8/26/17]: It was a “crazy day” for Joey Gibson — one that ended with the Patriot Prayer leader showing up at the spot in the Presidio where he had once scheduled a rally for the right-wing group. 

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Patriot-Prayer-leader-ends-up-at-Crissy-Field-12002349.php

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-rallies-in-Castro-Civic-Center-Plaza-promote-11984163.php

https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2017/08/26/come-together-rally-draws-thousands-to-castro-to-combat-hate/

How Conservatives Manipulated the Mainstream Media to Give Us President Trump [Bill Moyers, 8/26/17]:  A new report shows how conservatives are winning a war that the rest of us don’t even know we’re fighting.

http://billmoyers.com/story/future-democracy-read-media-bias-report/#.WZ4MbKxgS60.facebook

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: