Posts October 3, 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.
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:
2017 Georgetown Law
Supreme Court Institute Preview [Georgetown Law School on YouTube, 10/2/17]: On September 19, 2017, leading Supreme Court
practitioners discussed the most significant cases on the argument docket for
the upcoming Supreme Court 2017 term.
The First Monday [Daily Journal, 10/2/17]:
Justice Ginsburg’s prediction of a “momentous” term may prove to be quite an
understatement.
The Supreme Court's Blockbuster Term [Politico, 10/2/17]: Get ready for the landmark
decisions to start rolling in.
Supreme Court's new term [Ars Technica, 10/2/17]: Surveillance, hacking, sports
betting -- and cake, too; 'The Court is now sitting' -- with 100% more Gorsuch
and plenty of tech questions ahead.
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:
International Legal Personality of Corporations: Ho [J”ust Security” blog, 10/2/17]: Investment Law
Answers the Supreme Court Question in Jesner.
Another Set Of Gun Bills Awaits Gov. Brown's Pen [CPE,
10/2/17]: California added many new firearms restrictions in the aftermath of
the 2015 San Bernardino mass shooting, and even more currently await Gov. Jerry
Brown’s signature.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
News Outlets’
Assessment of Trump Depends on Audience
[CNS, 10/2/17]: News stories from outlets with a politically right-leaning
audience are five times more likely to have a positive assessment of the Trump
administration than stories from publications with a left-leaning or mixed
audience, according to a Pew Research Center report released Monday.
Mueller Tasks an Adviser With Getting Ahead
of Pre-Emptive Pardons [Bloomberg, 10/3/17]: U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has a distinctly
modern problem. The president, judging by his tweets, could try to pardon
people in his circle even before prosecutors charge anyone with a crime.
Mueller's all-star team of prosecutors, with expertise in money laundering and
foreign bribery, has an answer to that. He's Michael Dreeben, a bookish career
government lawyer with more than 100 Supreme Court appearances under his belt.
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:
The Gerrymander Case:
A majority of the
Supreme Court appears ready to strike down a partisan gerrymander; And then there
was hope [Think Progress, 10/3/17]: Gill v. Whitford is the most important case the Supreme Court has heard
in years. As Paul Smith, the attorney arguing against Wisconsin’s gerrymandered
maps in Whitford, told
the Court, if the justices allow such aggressive gerrymanders to persist, “the
country is going to lose faith in democracy.”
Justices seem divided in key case about partisan districts [AP, 10/3/17]: A seemingly divided Supreme Court debated Tuesday
whether to strike down a Wisconsin redistricting plan because it is too
partisan, in a case that could affect elections across the country.
Anthony Kennedy
doesn't tip hand in gerrymandering case [CNN, 10/3/17]: The key vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, gave little
indication which way he'll side during the often lively session that saw a
familiar partisan split.
The Perfect Redistricting Case [Slate, 10/3/17]: Anthony Kennedy said he needed to see
a particular set of facts to kill partisan gerrymandering; Gill v. Whitford has them all.
Supreme Court To Weigh In On Extreme Partisan
Gerrymandering [NPR’s “Morning
Edition,” 10/3/17]:
http://www.npr.org/2017/10/03/555266296/supreme-court-to-weigh-in-on-extreme-partisan-gerrymandering
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
Massacre blunts momentum of gun silencer bill [Politico,
10/2/17]: A controversial bill to loosen restrictions on purchasing gun
silencers won't be reaching the House floor anytime soon after a horrific mass
shooting in Las Vegas that left at least 59 dead and hundreds more wounded,
according to GOP sources.
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
Alien
Poverty Must Be Considered in Bail-Setting [Trial Insider, 10/2/17]:
The federal government must take into account an
alien’s poverty and inability to pay bail before they are detained on
immigration holds, so long as they are not dangerous or a flight risk, a
federal appeals court held Monday.
What’s Behind the
Decline in the Death Penalty? [Marshall Project, 10/2/18]:A new book explores the slow demise of the
ultimate punishment. There are four men
left on death row in Virginia, and only 31 people were sentenced to death in
the entire U.S. last year, compared with more than 300 per year in the
mid-1990s.
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:
Flip-Flopping on Free Speech [New Yorker, 10/9/17]: The fight for the First
Amendment, on campuses and football fields, from the sixties to today.
In the half century between the elections of Governor Reagan and President
Trump, the left and the right would appear to have switched sides, the left
fighting against free speech and the right fighting for it.
Why a federal judge ruled
Lehigh County's seal unconstitutional [Easton (PA.) Express-Times,
10/2/17]: A federal judge in Easton opened the
door this week to forcing Lehigh County to eradicate images of its official, nearly
73-year-old seal.
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:
The Limits of 'Diversity' [New Yorker, 10/9/17]: Where affirmative action was
about compensatory justice, diversity is meant to be a shared benefit; But does
the rationale carry weight?
U.S. top court divided
over curbing workers' class-action suits [Reuters / Bloomberg / Politico / CNS,
10/2/17]: Liberal U.S. Supreme Court
justices on Monday defended the right of workers to bring class-action lawsuits
against companies but their conservative counterparts who are in the majority
sounded skeptical in the biggest business case of the court’s new term. Justice Stephen Breyer took a stand for workers Monday as the
Supreme Court kicked off its October term with a focus on employment
arbitration agreements.
International Law, Citizenship
and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
Trump Hit With Twin Shots on Updated
Travel Ban [CNS, 10/3/17]: Attorneys at Covington
& Burling brought the first court challenges Tuesday to what they call
Muslim Ban 3.0, the updated executive order that bars the citizens of various
Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.
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