Posts for September 26, 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.
The Dying Art of Disagreement [Bret Stephens Op-Ed, first delivered as a speech, in
the NY Times, 9/24/17]: “Disagreement is dear to me, too, because it is the
most vital ingredient of any decent society.” This is worth a read.
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:
A Vestige of Bigotry
[Marshall Project, 9/26/17]: The Supreme
Court and non-unanimous juries: he
challenge to the Trump administration’s travel ban has been pulled from the
Supreme Court docket for now, but the justices still have an opportunity this
coming term to confront a high-profile case that raises direct questions about
racial or religious animus.
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]
Supreme Court cancels oral
arguments on Trump travel ban [Politico / Jurist, 9/25/17]: The justices did not drop the pending travel ban
cases altogether, but removed them from the court's oral argument calendar while
both sides file new briefs on the impact of the new directive.
Use of personal devices widespread in Trump's West Wing [Politico,
9/25/17]: Top White House aides including Ivanka Trump and Gary Cohn, along
with Jared Kushner, occasionally used private email accounts for official business.
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:
Seventh Circuit Eases
Third Party Ballot Access in Illinoi [CNS, 9/25/17]: The Seventh Circuit handed a victory to the Libertarian Party on Friday,
declaring an Illinois requirement that third parties run a full slate of
candidates to get on the ballot unconstitutional.
Partisan Gerrymandering Heads to Court Test: Can It Go Too
Far? [Bloomberg, 9/26/17]:
Republicans won less than half the vote for the Wisconsin state Assembly in
2012 -- but they still got more than 60 percent of the seats. Democrats are
blaming the voting map in a U.S. Supreme Court case that could change the rules
for drawing election district lines around the country. The question is whether
a redistricting map that’s skewed to help one political party is ever so
extreme that it violates the Constitution.
The Case Against Partisan Gerrymandering [Slate,
9/25/17]: It is both durable and democratically subversive. It’s time for the
Supreme Court to intervene.
Federal Court Lambastes Conservative Effort To Strip
Felon Voting Rights In Philadelphia [Huff
Post / CA3 blog, 9/25/17]: The court said the federal law in question “was
intended as a shield to protect the right to vote, not as a sword to pierce it.”
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
Is Health Care a
Right? [New Yorker, 9/24/17]: he United States remains the only developed
country in the world unable to come to agreement on an answer.
GOP already eyeing next chance to revive Obamacare repeal [Politico,
9/25/17]: With their latest attempt to dismantle the health law on track to
fail this week, GOP senators are already raising the prospect of going after it
again with the same powerful tools that currently let them pass legislation
with just 50 votes.
Preschool expulsion:
the surprising problem this bill aims to prevent [KPCC, 9/25/17]: Blanca Rubio often talks to her children about what
she has going on at work. Since she's a legislator, a member of the California
Assembly representing the 48th district, this means talking to her 9- and
10-year-old about the laws she's writing.
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
US violent crime rises for second year in a row: FBI
report [Jurist / CNS, 9/26/17]: The report "is a statistical compilation of
offense, arrest, and police employee data reported by law enforcement agencies
voluntarily participating in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program." The
publication includes statistics for severe crimes including murder, rape, arson
and robbery, among others. But numbers are down overall.
Evidence Will Be Reviewed Again in
White-on-Black Police Killing in St. Louis [CNS, 9/26/17]: Missouri’s Attorney General will hire an
independent investigator to find out if his predecessor withheld evidence
before Anthony Lamar Smith’s family settled a wrongful death lawsuit in the
case of the black man who was killed by the white policeman who was cleared of
a murder charge this month.
Feds Call a Dozen
Dirty in College Basketball Bribery Probe [CNS, 9/26/17]: Bound
to shake up the ongoing NCAA season, federal prosecutors accused 12 coaches,
managers, financial advisers and sportswear executives on Tuesday morning of
corrupting college basketball.
Ralph Gants And The
Decline Of The Felony Murder Doctrine In Massachusetts [WGBH News, 9/26/17]: Last
week, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts narrowed the application of
the state felony-murder doctrine, a controversial rule that has “perplexed
generations of law students, commentators and jurists." Up until that
decision, a person could be found guilty of felony murder in its purest form
when he or she commits a felony that causes another person’s death — regardless
of whether that result was intended. In other words, you could have been
deemed culpable of first-degree murder even if you lacked the mental state
associated with murder, say, the purpose to kill.
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:
Patriotism, Respect
for Flag Cannot be “ordered” [Newseum, 9/25/17]: This weekend’s Take a Knee
controversy brings to mind failed efforts from our past to mandate patriotism.
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:
US appeals court agrees that college can't
suspend student [AP, 9/25/17]: A
federal appeals court panel has agreed with blocking a university's suspension
of a male student accused of sexually assaulting a female student. The 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeal’s 3-0 ruling agreed with a federal judge’s 2016 order
that put the suspension on hold after the accused student appealed the
university’s decision to impose one. He claims his constitutional rights to due
process were violated.
You can read the decision at:
'Straight Weddings Only' Equals Discrimination [Jost
on Justice, 9/24/17]: Carl and Angel Larsen wanted to break into the wedding
video business, but as "Bible-believing Christians" they wanted to
announce on their company's website that they would not shoot gay or lesbian
ceremonies. Anticipating legal problems, the St. Cloud, Minn., couple filed a
suit in federal court in Minnesota in December 2016 asking in effect for a
constitutionally based exemption from the state's anti-LGBT discrimination law.
Getting it Right: The
Arizona Supreme Court Applies Marital Presumption to Same-Sex Spouse
[Justia, 9/26/17]: Professor. Grossman comments on a recent decision by the
Arizona Supreme Court that correctly applies the US Supreme Court’s reasoning
in Obergefell v. Hodges to
hold that the marital presumption applies to same-sex couples just as it
applies to opposite-sex couples. Grossman provides a brief legal history of
same-sex marriage and the attendant obligations and benefits and praises the
Arizona court for its clear and well reasoned opinion.
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