Posts October 6, 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.
One of
my new favorite blogs: Check out Constitution
Daily:
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:
Supreme Court's newest justice has an elk as an office mate [AP, 10/5/17]: When Justice Neil Gorsuch joined the Supreme Court
earlier this year he got Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat, his office and his elk,
Leroy. In recent appearances, Gorsuch has been telling the story of how the elk
— actually just its mounted head — came to be his office mate.
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:
Do More Guns Make People Safer? Research Says No
[KBPS, 10/5/17]: Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas shooter, had 23 firearms in his
hotel room and he bought 33 guns in the past year, according to law enforcement
officials.
Fact Check: Is Chicago Proof That Gun Laws Don’t Work? [KQED,
10/5/17]: In the wake of the horrific shooting in Las Vegas this week, the
White House faced questions about whether President Trump would support
stricter gun legislation.
California becomes 'sanctuary state' in rebuke of Trump
immigration policy [KQED, 10/5/17]: In a sharp rebuke to President Trump’s
expanded deportation orders, Gov. Jerry Brown signed landmark “sanctuary state”
legislation Thursday, vastly limiting who state and local law enforcement
agencies can hold, question and transfer at the request of federal immigration
authorities.
The
American Presidency [TOPIC 15]
White House Rolls Back Birth-Control
Mandates [CNS, 10/6/17]: The Trump administration on Friday rolled
back a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that employers include
birth-control coverage in their health insurance plans.
Challengers urge Supreme Court to rule on Trump travel ban [Reuters, 10/5/17]: Challengers
to President Donald Trump’s travel ban targeting several Muslim-majority
countries on Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the policy’s
legality even though it has been replaced with a revised plan, while his
administration asked that the case be dismissed.
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:
Gun-control issue unlikely to sway hot Congress races:
Here’s why[OC Register, 10/5/17]: Despite the vast divide between many
Republicans and Democrats on gun control, experts say the issue is unlikely to
play a major role in Southern California’s six hotly contested congressional
races next year.
‘Show your taxes’—Could California really make
presidential contenders do it? [CalMatters, 10/5/17]: There’s
sometimes a fine line between good governance and trolling. One of this year’s
most controversial—if not quite as consequential—state bills is a proposal by
Democratic Sen. Mike McGuire of Healdsburg that would require presidential
candidates to release their tax returns before they can appear on a California
ballot.
The Supreme Court's
Gerrymandering Case and Strategies for Winning Justice Kennedy's Vote [Jeffrey Toobin in the New
Yorker, 10/5/17]: The secret to
advocacy before the contemporary Supreme Court is no secret: it’s all about
pandering to Justice Anthony Kennedy. With the other eight Justices evenly
split between liberals and conservatives, lawyers in controversial cases spend
most of their energy indulging the idiosyncratic passions of the rangy
Californian who sits beside the Chief Justice.
Legislation and the Legislative
Process (TOPIC 20)
White House plans to demand immigration cuts in exchange
for DACA fix [Ppolitico, 10/5/17]: Aide Stephen Miller, Trump's top
immigration adviser, is crafting a hard-line plan that risks blowing up any
deal with Democrats.
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
Sexual extortion will be considered a criminal act in
California [LA Times, 10/5/17]: Sexual extortion will be considered a
criminal act in California under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Jerry
Brown. SB 500, by Sen. Connie Levya (D-Chino), will add coercion involving
sexual acts and sexually explicit images — known as "sextortion" — to
the state's extortion laws.
Bipartisan group of lawmakers introduce bill to lessen
sentences for drug offenses [Jurist, 10/5/17]:
The bill, sponsored by 10 senators from both sides of the aisle, seeks to
reduce rather than to fully eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for certain
non-violent drug crimes while simultaneously giving federal judges more
discretion to deviate from the sentencing guidelines when they see fit. Thus
the bill will reduce charges for crimes such as drug possession and the sale of
narcotics.
What's Terrorism?
Depends on Who, and When, You Ask [Marshall Project, 10/5/17]: The definition of terrorism varies by
jurisdiction and has morphed over time.
Texas death row inmate
Duane Buck has sentence reduced to life after Supreme Court orders retrial
[Texas Trib / Houston Chron, 10/3/17]: Duane Buck, whose death sentence in a
1995 double slaying was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme
Court after allegations of racist testimony from an expert witness, had
his sentence reduced to life in prison Tuesday.
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:
Can the media be
jailed for criticizing a President? [Constitution
Daily, 10/6/17]: President Donald Trump wants Congress to investigate news
outlets he doesn’t like for what he’s called “fake news” reporting. So if
Congress wanted to, could it pass a law that would jail journalists for
reporting stories critical of the President or Congress itself?
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:
Sessions reverses DOJ stance on discrimination protection
for transgender workers [Jurist,
10/5/17]: US Attorney General Jeff Sessions sent
a memo to US Attorneys Wednesday stating that Title VII's prohibition on sex
discrimination does not extend to discrimination based on gender identity.
Accordingly, Title VII's prohibition on sex discrimination encompasses
discrimination between men and women but does not encompass discrimination
based on gender identity per se, including transgender status.
International Law, Citizenship
and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]
The Increasingly
Unsettling Indifference Toward the US Citizen “Enemy Combatant [“Just Security” blog / “Lawfare” blog,
10/5/17]: It’s now been over three weeks since
an American citizen who is being held by the United States in military
detention as an “enemy combatant” after allegedly fighting on behalf of
ISIS turned himself in to SDF forces in Syria. We still know shockingly
little about the detainee (including his name, the circumstances of his
capture, whether the government plans to keep him in military detention,
etc.).
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