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To:
Teachers of Constitutional Law in
high school
From: Rich Kitchens,
Director, Constitutional Law Education Project (CLEP) (http://conlawed.com) (Email us at:
rich@conlawed.com)
Sub: Newsletter #308
(May 9,
2008)
This is an
occasional FREE newsletter for the teachers of Constitutional Law
(3rd) and others interested in teaching such a
subject to high school students. Currently, it goes out to more than
160 teachers. It is organized to suggest strategies in each of
the five units in the Constitutional Law (3rd)
text. Of course, you can use any of this information
without the text as well. More information can be obtained by using
the Teacher’s Guide to Constitutional Law (3rd),
published by the CLEP.
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Please let
us know what you would like to see in this newsletter as it evolves.
To view past issues of the newsletter, contact Rich Kitchens at our
email address. To see Rich Kitchens’ classroom, check out: http://www.edutopia.org/room-learn-speak-your-mind
=====================================================
General Articles, Hints and
Reminders:
Michael Dorf,
“Does the Foolhardy McCain/Clinton Proposal for a "Gas Tax
Holiday"
Expose a More Fundamental Flaw in Democracy?” Writ, 5/7/08: Professor Dorf
assesses the positions of presidential candidates Clinton, McCain,
and Obama regarding a "gas tax holiday" -- which
Clinton and McCain
support, and Obama opposes. After careful analysis of the economics
of the tax holiday proposal, Dorf concludes that Obama is right to
oppose it, for, he says, it cannot be justified as a policy matter.
However, Dorf expresses doubt about whether Obama's stance is as
wise as it is principled, for in democracies, he notes, proposals
that appear effective, even when they are not, may still succeed in
winning votes from those who hope and believe they will
benefit.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dorf/20080507.html
Jesselyn Radack,
“The Justice Department's Litigation Security Group and Its
Ethics Violations in the Al-Haramain Case.” Writ,
5/7/08: Attorney and
Homeland Security Director for the Government Accountability Project
Jesselyn Radack offers a new angle on an important case in which an
Islamic charity, Al-Haramain, has sued to challenge the NSA's use of
warrantless telephone surveillance. As Radack explains, a number of
cases have challenged the NSA warrantless surveillance program for
violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and raised
issues of the scope and applicability of the state secrets
privilege. Yet this case is different in an important way:
Al-Haramain can prove it was the target of surveillance, because the
Department of Justice inadvertently sent the charity a log of the
calls surveilled, and the use of security precautions regarding the
log in the course of litigation may have caused DOJ attorneys to
violate ethics rules by barring an attorney for the charity from
appellate briefing and overseeing staff who destroyed an attorney's
hard drive.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20080508_radack.html
I.
Introduction to Law, the Constitution, and the Supreme
Court
[See TOPICS 1-10 in the
3rd edition of Constitutional Law]
Some recent
articles that are relevant to this unit:
The
U.S. Supreme
Court
[TOPICS 7, 8, 9, 11, 12]
David E. Kelley's 'Boston Legal' Takes On the Roberts Court
[Legal Times, 5/6/08]: TV viewers recently saw one of the most
vociferous popular-culture critiques of the current Supreme Court
since John Roberts Jr. became chief justice. The anti-Court screed
came in the form of an episode of the hit show "Boston Legal."
Though the scenario itself was beyond improbable, the show's "ripped
from the headlines" topicality -- along with a remarkable level of
detail and accuracy in its portrayal of the Court, including
references to little-known customs -- has given the episode a life
of its own.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202421139320
Vikram Amar,
“What the Supreme Court's Recent Decision Upholding
Indiana's
Voter ID Law Tells Us About the Court, Beyond the Area of Election
Law.” Writ, 5/8/08:
Professor Amar discusses the larger meaning of the
Supreme Court's recent, fractured decision upholding
Indiana's voter
identification law, in terms of what the decision may reveal about
the Court and its Justices. Amar focuses, in particular, on how the
decision exemplifies Chief Justice Roberts's difficulty in achieving
his stated goal of forging more agreement on the Court, how it
illuminates Justice Alito's jurisprudential philosophy, and how it
continues a trend in which the Court has proved hostile to "facial
challenges" -- that is, challenges that target a law "on its face"
and not in the context of a single constitutionally- objectionable
application.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/amar/20080508.html
Edward Lazarus,
“McCain's Remarks Regarding the Kind of Judges He Would
Nominate As President: His Surprising Failure to Take Into Account
the Rightward Turn of the Supreme Court and of the Law in Recent
History.”
Writ, 5/9/08: Lazarus argues that it is anomalous for
presidential candidate John McCain to decry what he claims is
liberal judicial activism and promise to appoint more conservative
federal judges, in light of the fact that the Supreme Court is now
conservative-dominated. Lazarus contends that there are so few
examples of true liberal judicial activism nowadays, that McCain has
been forced to rely on two that are strikingly weak: a federal
appellate holding that the Supreme Court ultimately vacated,
regarding the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance; and the
Court's holding on the juvenile death penalty, which simply put a
few outlier States in line with the rest of the States and most of
the rest of the world. Lazarus suggests that with a conservative
Supreme Court solidly in place, McCain would be better served by
dropping this non-issue, and moving on from old rhetoric to new
approaches that better reflect pressing, genuine modern conflicts
such as the one between liberty and
security.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/lazarus/20080509.html
II.
Defining the Political System: Federalism and Checks and Balances
[See TOPICS 11-15 in the
3rd edition of Constitutional Law]
Some recent articles that
are relevant to this unit:
New twist to old issue of 'taking' of property [SD
Union-Trib, 5/4/08]: Dueling initiatives on the statewide ballot
June 3 are being framed as a showdown over government's power to
seize private property, but the outcome could turn on the underlying
issue of rent control.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080504/news_1n4seize.html
'Private use' clause splits law's allies, foes [SF Chron,
5/7/08]: The public debate over Proposition 98 has centered
primarily on rent control and eminent domain, but aspects of the law
would also impair the ability of local governments to regulate
development, whether to preserve endangered species or ocean views,
opponents say.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/MNPS10HOMB.DTL
III. The
Political System: Voting and Campaigns
[See TOPICS 16-20 in the
3rd edition of Constitutional
Law]
Some recent articles that
are relevant to this unit:
Race Over or Not, Obama Takes a Victory Lap
[NY Times, 5/9/08]: There were talks between party leaders
and Senator Barack Obama as he made a public return to the
Capitol.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/us/politics/09obama.html
Short of Cash, Clinton Is Forced to Cut Spending [NY Times,
5/9/08]: The once-formidable fund-raising machine of Bill and
Hillary Clinton has begun to sputter at the worst possible moment
for Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, Clinton advisers and
donors said Thursday, with spending curtailed on political events
and advertising as Mrs. Clinton seeks to compete in the last six
nominating contests.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/us/politics/09clinton.html
McCain’s Vote in 2000 Is Revived in a Ruckus
[NY
Times, 5/9/08]: Did Senator McCain not vote for George W.
Bush in 2000?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/us/politics/09huffington.html
Analysis: Democrats quietly send word to Clinton it's over
[SF Chron,5/7/08]: Apart from George McGovern, a plainspoken man who
knows something about losing elections, not a single Democrat of
national stature publicly urged Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday
to end her campaign for the White House. They didn't have
to.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/05/07/politics/p134829D11.DTL
Uncertainties Mark Clinton’s Itinerary [NY Times, 5/7/08]:
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is bracing for one of the most
difficult days of her presidential race on Wednesday, anticipating
new pressure to quit the race and facing a set of financial and
logistical decisions that will determine just how robust a campaign
she can continue to wage against Sen. Barack Obama, according to
several advisers and political allies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/us/politics/07cnd-clinton.html
Obama Seeks To Unify Party For November [Wash Post, 5/9/08]:
Sen. Obama began taking the first steps to unify the fractured
Democratic Party for a general-election battle against Sen. John
McCain, even as Sen. Clinton continued to insist that she has the
backing of a broader coalition that could carry the party to victory
in November.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/08/AR2008050803418.html
GOP leaders warn of election disaster [Politico,
5/7/08]: Shellshocked House Republicans got
warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message
isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is
the NRCC’s money.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10138.html
Primary Pen & Ink: Raleigh, N.C. [NY Times, 5/6/08]:
Campbell Robertson, a reporter for The New York Times, and an
occasional cartoonist, has spent the week before the North Carolina
primary talking to voters around the state about the choices they
face. This is his third and final report, presented in graphic
form. Check out the
slideshow. http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/05/us/politics/20080505_RALEIGH_SLIDESHOW_index.html
A
Fault Line That Haunts the Democrats [NY Times,
5/4/08]: A new test for a coalition of blacks and
working-class whites that has been fragile for four decades.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/04/weekinreview/04harwood.html
Republicans Crossing Over to Vote in Democratic
Contests [NY Times, 5/3/08]: But this year Mrs. Morgan exemplifies
a different breed: the Republican crossing over to vote in the
Democratic primary. Not only will she mark her ballot for Senator
Barack Obama in the May 6 primary here, but she has also been
canvassing for him in the heavily Republican suburbs of Hamilton
County, just north of Indianapolis — the first time she has ever
actively campaigned for a candidate.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/us/politics/03crossover.html
Walters: California Democrats crow over voter roll uptick
[Sac Bee, 5/5/08]: California's Democratic leaders, who have seen
their share of the electorate decline by about 15 percentage points
over the last three decades, are crowing about an uptick in
registration.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/912377.html
Crime measure is a wedge issue, activists charge [Sac Bee,
5/7/08]: African-American and Latino activists joined the battle
Wednesday against an anti-crime measure headed for the November
ballot, branding the "safe neighborhoods" initiative as a
racially-charged effort to attract white, conservative voters to the
polls for the presidential election.
http://www.sacbee.com/102/story/920492.html
Legislation
and the Legislative Process (TOPIC
20)
Bill would take pets off driver's laps [Sac Bee,
5/6/08]: No more dogs behind the steering
wheel. Canines don't have to be back-seat drivers, but they'd better
stay away from the gas pedal under legislation passed Monday by the
Assembly.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/915276.html
IV.
Criminal Law and Procedure (4th, 5th,
6th, and 8th amendments)
[See TOPICS 21-28 in the
3rd edition of Constitutional Law]
Some recent articles that
are relevant to this unit:
Ga. Man Becomes First Inmate Executed Since Supreme
Court Decision on Lethal Injections [AP, 5/7/08]: A Georgia man who
killed his girlfriend was executed Tuesday, the first inmate put to
death since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of
lethal injections. The roughly three dozen states around the country
that use lethal injection held off on carrying out any executions
for more than seven months while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed the
constitutionality of the three-drug cocktail that's used in the
procedure. It marked the longest pause in
U.S. executions in a quarter
century.
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202421180960
Featured Lesson: DC Surveillance Cameras [Bill of
Rights Institute, 5/5/08]: At the end of last week, the
District of
Columbia launched a new surveillance system.
Phase one of the project involves linking the 4,500 cameras already
monitoring schools, streets, and government buildings into one
centralized network. By the end of 2008, the
District of
Columbia plans to have installed 5,600
closed-circuit cameras. This week’s Bill of Rights in the News
focuses on the surveillance network and its implications for
personal liberty and privacy.
http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/Teach/FreeResources/Lessons/?action=showDetails&id=206&ref=showCatD&catId=6
Reports Find Racial Gap in Drug Arrests [NY Times, 5/6/08]: More than two decades after President
Reagan escalated the war on drugs, arrests for drug sales or, more
often, drug possession are still rising. And despite public debate
and limited efforts to reduce them, large disparities persist in the
rate at which blacks and whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug
offenses, even though the two races use illegal drugs at roughly
equal rates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/us/06disparities.html
California
Supreme Court weighs fairness of using 'cold hit' DNA data in 1976
case [LA Times, 5/9/08]: A killer's appeal contends he lacked
an adequate defense at trial so long after the crime because
witnesses had died, evidence was lost and memories
faded.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dna9-2008may09,0,2299313.story
V.
1st Amendment (Speech, Religion, Press and
Assembly)
[See TOPICS 29-33 in the
3rd edition of Constitutional Law]
Some recent articles that
are relevant to this unit:
What to make of 'make' in the First Amendment [First
Amendment Center, 5/8/08]: Make. It is a
simple word, a verb. Yet its connection to our First Amendment is
rife with historical meaning. Recall, the 1791 guarantee begins with
the words: “Congress shall make no law ... .” But why that word?
What did it suggest? What evils was it directed against? And what
does the constitutional history of the word teach us
today?
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=20018
Federal judge finds religious bias in
Ga.
Tech gay-rights manual [AP, 5/3/08]:
Court says school-sanctioned
Safe Space cannot use religious information in program materials,
saying it violates separation of church and
state.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=20001
Wis. school district relents, will allow religious
expression in art [AP, 5/2/08]:
Officials change policy in
response to lawsuit; students still will be barred from including
gang symbols, violence, blood and sex in
artwork.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=19997
Teachers’ private postings may make waves in school
[First Amendment Center, 5/4/08]:
Freedom to express ourselves
doesn't necessarily mean there won't be
consequences.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=19991
Students await decision from Calif. principal who confiscated
papers [SPLC, 5/1/08]: Student editors at Eureka High School are
waiting for a decision from their principal on whether they will be
allowed to reprint about 400 copies of the April Redwood Bark
to replace copies the principal ordered removed from distribution
bins.
http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1749
VI.
14th Amendment, Discrimination, Privacy, Working,
Citizenship & Immigration
[See TOPICS 34-41 in the
3rd edition of Constitutional
Law]
Some recent articles that
are relevant to this unit:
Lawyer blames school in shooting of gay
Oxnard
student [LA Times, 5/8/08]: Attorney for youth facing arraignment
on murder charges says officials failed to defuse
tensions.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oxnard8-2008may08,0,7672260.story
The Law of
Working [TOPIC
39]
Walters: California faces huge upheaval [Sac Bee, 5/4/08]: If
demography is destiny, as 19th-century French philosopher Auguste
Comte first proposed, California is destined to soon experience an
economic and cultural tsunami of monumental proportions. This is the
year the oldest of the post-World War II baby boomers turn 62 and
can begin drawing Social Security benefits. That's expected to touch
off a mass exodus from the state's labor force over the next two
decades.
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/911400.html
Janitors march in San Jose for better pay [SJ Merc, 5/9/08]:
Dozens of janitors marched Thursday from San Jose City Hall to
downtown's Plaza de Cesar Chavez to demand better pay and benefits
from their employers, who contract with the city and major
technology companies.
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_9202631
International
Law, Citizenship and Immigration [TOPIC
40-42]
Joanne Mariner,
“Torture, Rendition, and International Law.”
Writ, 5/5/08:
Mariner discusses evidence of the
U.S.'s practice of
rendition to torture -- that is, of sending detainees to other
countries to be held and interrogated, knowing full well that the
detainees will be tortured there. Mariner notes that this practice
clearly violates international law, including the U.S.-ratified
Convention Against Torture. She also points to cases of rendition in
which the CIA supposedly obtained assurances that torture would not
occur, but it occurred anyway. She argues that, in practice, such
assurances are merely a fig leaf to cover up a brutal, illegal
practice of which the CIA is well aware. In addition, she contends
that U.S. courts should
welcome rendition victims seeking a remedy and yearning to be heard;
to date, courts have turned them away
instead.
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/mariner/20080505.html
Guantanamo,
stateside [LA Times, 5/9/08]: Human rights groups unveil a touring
exhibit to draw attention to conditions at the
U.S. detention
facility.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmocell9-2008may09,0,990165.story
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