^{Posts December 10, 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 have recently, belatededly, become a real fan of various PODCASTSS for use in your classrooms. Check below for some of my new favorites!}

Web 100: Best law blogs [ABA Journal, 12/7/17]:

^{http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/best_law_blogs_web_100}

I. Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme Court [See TOPICS 1-10 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

^{Decisions Decisions [Empirical SCOTUS blog, 12/9/17]:} The other day Mark Sherman of AP report an interesting statistic via Twitter (Kimberly Robinson mentioned this stat in Bloomberg Big Law Business post as well): this term would be the Court’s slowest in recent years for releasing the first two orally argued decisions.  I decided to examine the details behind this statistic, which I provide in the graphic below.  The graphic tracks the Court’s release of its first two orally argued, written and signed decisions for all terms since 1990.  The opinions are separated by month and day on the vertical axis and by term on the horizontal axis.

^{https://empiricalscotus.com/2017/12/09/decisions-decisions/}

II. Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances [See TOPICS 11-15 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

^{The American Presidency [TOPIC 15_}

^{PODCASTS: What Donal Trump Teaches Us About Con Law}

^{https://trumpconlaw.com/}

Inside Trump’s Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation ]NY Times, 12/9/17]: With Twitter as his Excalibur, President Trump takes on his doubters, powered by Diet Coke and long spells of cable news. But despite all his bluster, he views himself as a maligned outsider engaged in a struggle to be taken seriously, according to interviews with 60 insiders.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/us/politics/donald-trump-president.html

Republicans step up defense of 'not qualified' judicial nominees [Politico, 12/9/17]: GOP senators are ratcheting up their attacks on the American Bar Association, which has emerged as a stumbling block in President Donald Trump's effort to transform the courts.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/10/trump-judicial-nominees-republicans-287911

III.  The Political System: Voting and Campaigns [See TOPICS 16-20 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

 Justices to Hear Second Partisan Gerrymandering Case [USA Today, 12/8/17]: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a second political challenge to the way election districts were drawn, adding Maryland Republicans' complaint to a docket that already includes a case brought by Wisconsin Democrats. Both cases give the justices an opportunity to do something they have never done: strike down election districts because of politics, rather than race. A ruling against the state legislature's lines in either case could place other states' districts in jeopardy as well.

^{https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/08/supreme-court-hear-second-case-challenging-election-districts/936402001/}

^{Legislation and the Legislative Process (TOPIC 20)}

IV. Cminal 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] Some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

^{PODCASTS: "Serial"}

^{https://serialpodcast.org/}

When Your 18th Birthday Gift Is a Transfer to Adult Prison [Marshall Project, 12/7/17]: A “baby-faced kid” comes of age while incarcerated.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/12/07/when-turning-18-means-a-transfer-to-an-adult-prison?ref=hp-4-121

V. 1^st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and Assembly) [See TOPICS 29-33 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

^{Twi Wirds Dib;t Naje a :Rught—But they Can Misuse One [Newseum, 12/7/17]:} Didn’t we all learn, long ago, that “two wrongs don’t make a right”? But two wrongs can misuse a right — as in our right to free expression, guaranteed by the First Amendment.

^{http://www.newseuminstitute.org/2017/12/07/two-wrongs-do-not-make-a-right-but-they-can-misuse-one/}

VI. 14^th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working, Citizenship & Immigration [See TOPICS 34-41 in the 5^th edition of Constitutional Law] Some recent articles that are relevant to this unit:

^{The Constitutional Right to Education is Long Overdue [EdLawProfs blog, 12/5/17]:}  Public school funding has shrunk over the past decade. School dropout rates reached historic highs. Large achievement gaps [ersists. And the overall performance of our nation’s students falls well below our international peers.

^{http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2017/12/the-constitutional-right-to-education-is-long-overdue.html}