^{Posts December 22, 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.2}

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:

Why Judges Matter  [Linda Greenhouse in the NY Times, 12/21/17]:  The great Linda Greenhouse is still the best writer on legal issues.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/opinion/trump-judges-abortion-immigration.html?_r=0&mtrref=howappealing.abovethelaw.com&gwh=F53D543499816F2FE2AEC4E4050E3C60&gwt=pay&assetType=opinion

Trump's Supreme Court appointee Gorsuch plots rightward course [Reuters, 12/20/17[:  Eight months into his lifetime U.S. Supreme Court appointment, Neil Gorsuch has given every indication through his votes in key cases and remarks from the bench he will be a stalwart of the conservative legal agenda, as President Donald Trump promised.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-gorsuch/trumps-supreme-court-appointee-gorsuch-plots-rightward-course-idUSKBN1EE0IJ

 

Why Justice Gorsuch May Have Avoided the Word “Privacy” at the Carpenter Oral Argument [Justia, 12/20/17]: Professor Colb comments on the recent oral argument in Carpenter v. United States, in which the US Supreme Court will consider whether the Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a warrant before demanding that a cell phone service provider reveal location data about a target’s phone for a certain period of time. Colb notes that during oral argument, the Court’s newest justice, Justice Neil Gorsuch, conspicuously avoided using the word “privacy”—a choice that Colb suggests reflects his views on substantive due process and the rights that flow from that constitutional principle, such as abortion and physician assistance in dying.

https://verdict.justia.com/2017/12/20/justice-gorsuch-may-avoided-word-privacy-carpenter-oral-argument

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_}

Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging Trump violated Constitution [Wash Post, 12/21/17]: A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that President Trump violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause because his hotels and restaurants do business with foreign governments while he is in office. 

^{https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/judge-dismisses-lawsuit-alleging-trump-violated-constitution/2017/12/21/31011510-e697-11e7-ab50-621fe0588340_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_emoluments-620pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.2d63765ca184}

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:

Republicans warn Trump of 2018 bloodbath [Politico, 12/21/17]: A few weeks before Alabama's special Senate election, President Donald Trump’s handpicked Republican National Committee leader, Ronna Romney McDaniel, delivered a two-page memo to White House chief of staff John Kelly outlining the party’s collapse with female voters.

^{https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/21/2018-midterms-republicans-trump-warning-312404}

^{Legislation and the Legislative Process}

Republicans plan mega marketing push to sell unpopular tax plan -- Conservative groups are planning a multimillion-dollar effort to sell the GOP’s tax cut law, hoping the American electorate can learn to love the party’s signature — but massively unpopular — legislative achievement.

^{https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/21/gop-tax-plan-marketing-push-313231}

Labor, Housing, Immigration, and Gun Laws to Take Effect Jan. 1 [KQED, 12/21/17]: It’s not just recreational marijuana. Hundreds of new laws are set to take effect in California in January. Here are some of the most important measures.

^{https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/12/21/labor-housing-immigration-and-gun-laws-to-take-effect-jan-1/}

Mammoth disaster aid package could languish for weeks [Politico, 12/21/17]: The House bill, which ultimately passed on a 251-169 vote, had help from 69 Democrats, including many from Texas, Florida and California. But the massive assistance package has run into resistance in the Senate, making it nearly impossible for the aid to be delivered by year’s end. 

^{https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/21/house-passes-massive-disaster-aid-package-312413?lo=ap_a1}

GOP tax overhaul passes House with help from a dozen California Republicans [SF Chron, 12?19/20]: Despite weeks of consternation from some California House Republicans, a dozen of them joined their colleagues to pass an overhaul of the U.S. tax code Tuesday. Two — Darrell Issa and Dana Rohrabacher — voted against the plan.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/nation/article/House-passes-tax-overhaul-bill-trump-california-12442043.php

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:

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:

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:

There's More Than One Kind of Workplace Civility; The sexual harassment scandal is changing social norms; Let the new ones respect human variety [Bloomberg, 12/20/17]: The #MeToo  libertarian jurist on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, has stepped down amid allegations that he showed female clerks pornography, made workplace comments about having sex, and on some occasions groped female colleagues.

^{https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-19/there-s-more-than-one-kind-of-workplace-civility}

^{International Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC 40-42]}