Posts for September 14, 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.
Paying the price for
breakdown of the country's bourgeois culture [Philly Inquirer Op-Ed
by Amy Wax, 8/9/17]: Too few
Americans are qualified for the jobs available. Male working-age labor-force
participation is at Depression-era lows. Opioid abuse is widespread. Homicidal
violence plagues inner cities. Almost half of all children are born out of
wedlock, and even more are raised by single mothers. Many college students lack
basic skills, and high school students rank below those from two dozen other
countries. The causes of these phenomena are multiple and complex, but
implicated in these and other maladies is the breakdow n of the country’s
bourgeois culture. http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/paying-the-price-for-breakdown-of-the-countrys-bourgeois-culture-20170809.html
See her discussion of
the controversial Op-Ed at YouTube (8/29/17-:
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:
Constitutional Law in an
Age of Alternative Fact [NYU Law Rev., 9/9/17]: This
article explores what is new and worrisome about fact-finding today, and it
identifies constitutional disputes loaded with convenient but false
claims.
An Old Supreme Court Dream [Linda Greenhouse in the NY
Times, 9/14/17]: “Before there were the
Dreamers, there were undocumented children occupying seats in the public school
classrooms of America. And before there was Kris Kobach, or Jeff Sessions, or
Donald Trump, or other exploiters of the nativist strain that runs just below
the surface of the national psyche, there was Texas.”
Longtime readers of my newsletters and blogs will recognize
my fixation with the writing of Linda Greenhouse regarding the Court. Research
her multitude of essays.
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:
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:
California could flip the House, and these 13 races will
make the difference [LA Times, 9/13/17]: The stakes are high in the 2018
midterm elections: control of the U.S. House. For Democrats to reclaim power,
they must forge a path through California. The party considers nine districts
here to be battlegrounds and can't win the House without winning at least a few
of them.
GOP shudders as Trump courts Democrats on taxes [Politico,
9/13/17]: President Trump’s courtship of Democrats on tax reform is dividing
congressional Republicans on the merits of a bipartisan bill — and could upend
the party-line strategy that White House and GOP leaders have been pursuing for
months.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
Expanding Family Leave, Drug Price Transparency, School
For Children Of Deportees [CPR, 9/13/17]: California lawmakers are
continuing their push through hundreds of bills before the legislative session
ends Friday. Here are some of the highlights
First year of California community colleges could be free
under bill headed to Gov. Jerry Brown's desk [SF Chron, 9/13/17]:
Hoping to entice more students into California's community college system,
lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill to make students' first year free. The
Assembly gave final approval to a measure by Assemblyman Miguel Santiago (D-Los
Angeles) that waives fees for first-time full-time students.
Bye-Bye, Blue Slip? [Slate, 9/12/17]: Republicans want to trash another century-old Senate
norm to help Trump.
10 Things You Need To Know About Blue Slips [Huff Post, 9/13/17]: Republicans repeatedly used the
tradition to block President Obama's judicial nominees.
Competing Health Care Plans Rip Current
Through Capitol Hill [CNS, 9/13/17]: After months
out of the legislative spotlight, health care returned to Capitol Hill on
Wednesday with Republicans and Democrats unveiling competing proposals that
would fundamentally alter health care in the country.
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
The Supreme Court Should Stop This Georgia Execution [Brennan Ctr. for Justice, 9/13/17]: When a racist
juror helps convict a black man, the Court should follow its own precedent and
set the verdict aside.
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:
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 Poll: Some Americans
Express Troubling Racial Attitudes Even as Majority Oppose White Supremacists [Sabato’s Crystal Ball,
9/14/17]: urvey conducted by Reuters/Ipsos in conjunction with UVA Center for
Politics measures racial sentiments in aftermath of August neo-Nazi rally in
Charlottesville.
L.A. Unified settles lawsuits with teacher Rafe Esquith [LA
Times, 9/13/17]: Rafe Esquith may have been America’s most famous teacher —
even, some said, its best — when the Los Angeles Unified School District fired
him in 2015. The three lawsuits prompted by that dismissal were put aside as
the two sides settled and issued a brief joint statement Wednesday morning.
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