Current News & Opinion | Class Video
Resources
1. Oyez Supreme Court data base with oral arguments, case summaries and bio of the justices.(click here)
2. Findlaw Searchable database of the full text of Supreme Court cases (click here)
3. Scotus blog Broad coverage of Supreme Court Statistics, briefs, videos of Justice’s speeches and news commentary on cases among many other items. Articles and links about each Supreme Court case. Some articles were written about cases before they got to Supreme Court. Others are about the oral argument before case was decided. A former student of mine was one of the original stat creators for the blog. He is now a lawyer in a large New York firm. Later in the semester we will cover a case in which he and I filed an Amicus brief in a civil liberties case while he was in my class.(click here)
4. There is an enormous amount of information on the web about each case and each of the justices.
Current News & Opinion(Highlights)
Fall Semester 2017
Fall Semester 2015
Read these articles at your leisure unless specifically assigned for class or an exam. They are materials about current political and social issues that touch directly or indirectly cases that will be covered in class as we go through the semester.
1. What is free speech. Throughout the semester we will be delving into this question. This is an artcle about a student’s comments at TCU and the unieersity’s comment. Note that private schools are not necessarily covered under the 1st and 14 Amendments (click here)
2. What other forms of marriage may be allowed under the 14th Amendment after Obergefel?(click here)
3. Due process is a fundamental right in criminal proceedings. There have been a number of recent cases where campus processes in sexual assault cases have been questioned with regard to due process. Camille Paglia, a very early feminist writer and professor, comments on one aspect of the sexual assault case at Columbia (click here)
4. The public debate over Confederate flags, monuments, even gravestones implicate many free speech issues and well as education issues. Check out this thoughtful piece by Civil War scholar and writer William C. Davis It is quite relevant to the discussion at U.T. about the Robert E Lee statute on the South Mall whatever your position is. (click here)
5. “Facts are the enemy of truth” or so says the Man Of La Mancha. The old Texas saying about this is: “Do you believe me or your lying eyes?” Except as we know from psychological studies, eyewitness testimony is often conflicting, wrong and inconsistent. Over the years there have been many scientific hoaxes, big and small. Often the consensus has been wrong. Even the New York Times has begun to cover, at a general level, what they view as the source of this problem (click here) As we go through the semester be wary of Court attempts to use history and social science evidence to support one view or another as to rights. Here is a detailed article on one of the studies slightly mentioned in the New York Times article. (click here)
6. As we will see as we go through what some people call “pornography” as speech cases, one of the tests as whether it should be constitutional relates to its impact. The meaning of impact could change as society changes. Also sometimes British newspapers publish articles the American main stream media prefers not to confront. Here is one about the impact of pornography and video games on young males. Notice it is based on social science research that may not yet be replicated. (Click here)
7. A survey on the legal and cultural wars: gay rights vs. religious freedom
Christie bashes DeSantis for asking for aid after voting against Hurricane Sandy relief funds
Fall Semester 2013
1. Free Speech and Rodeo Clowns News article (Click here) Rodeo Clown comes forward to talk about his act which he says had nothing to do with race (click here) For a defense of rodeo clowns by a cartoonist (Click here)Another aspect of the Rodeo Clown incident . Masks v. “Blackface” (Click here)
2. There has been enormous coverage over the summer of NSA spying, govern phone tapping, eavesdropping and so on. We will talk a lot about privacy, past, present and future toward the end of the course. Here are some articles on aspects that do not normally get a lot of coverage. CBS Reporter says her computer was hacked probably by government (click here) Eavesdropping on Senate Minority leader’s state office (click here) Should bloggers be covered by 1st Amendment and media shield laws? (click here) Did IRS harass Conservatives and block their applications for non profit status. From the hearings (click here)
Head of AP says since investigation of his reports, government sources experience being muzzled (click here)
23a According to story in British paper NSA employees spied on their lovers (click here)
3. Is voter i.d. a civil rights issue? (Click here)
4. Always be critical and a bit skeptical. Experts, leaders, elected official and icons(including your humble teacher) often get it wrong. Some times they are not truthful. (click here) Sometimes they lie and are hypocritical (click here) Some of worst predictions in history (click here) One of the great “walkbacks” of all time in the middle of this article on a Washington state gun control bill. (click here) Regardless of your view on the role of hydrocarbons on the planet it is interesting to note there used to be a theory that the amount of oil that can be produced on the planet has peaked, the “peak oil” theory. This has been now shown to be false. For an article on reserves in just one area of the U.S. (click here).
And of course there is usual expert predictions on hurricane activity which is usually wrong.(click here). Some expert opinion on why college costs so much clashes with the President’s view of lowering the cost of college for some people. (click here)
Often “experts” want to tar and feather their opponents with ad hominem attacks and names. Any limits on free speech problems in stopping this. (click here)
5. NYPD can’t stop and frisk right now. Will that lead to more crime? (click here). We will read original Supreme Court case on this matter Terry v. Ohio mid semester.
6. Sometime fiction predicts the future. Did it happen for Detroit. Ayn Rand’s Starnesville and Detroit (click here)
7. Is religion under attack in the U.S. New Hampshire mom can no longer pray privately on school steps? (click here)
8. Does skin color matter? Apparently in Arizona (click here)
9. There have been mountains of words written about the he unfortunate killing of Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial. These articles touch on many issues of civil rights and civil liberties we will discuss in class in one way or another. Here are some links to aspects not widely covered by major press organizations. U of Pa. professor on verdict(Click here). On the double standard in the media about these kinds of events (click here) Can’t always trust what you see at rallies on either side of the issue (click here) On the President’s interview with Hispanic media after the verdict (Click here) Interesting piece about role of prosecutors in criminal cases(Click here)How post Zimmerman verdict protests described in a London newspaper(click here)
Investor’s Business Daily takes the President to task for a double stand with regard to interracial shootings. How might you argue against their position? (click here)
Here is one comparison of the case of Trayvon Martin with the situation of Emmett Till a Black teenager from Chicago who was tortured and murdered in 1954 for whistling at a White woman while visiting relatives in Georgia. I remember the case well since I grew up in Chicago. (click here)
10. Abortion Rights and Wrongs. Wendy Davis and the Texas law (click here)
11. We will look at at least one case on school choice. What does the Black community think about school choice? (click here)
What does the Obama administration think of school choice? (click here)
12. Some software to support the right to be forgotten (click here)
13. There are many cases over the years of people creating racism hoaxes. Here is one at Oberlin College. (click here) Why would someone want to do this.?
14. German police and social workers forcibly take children from parents because parents were home schooling them. (click here). Could that happen here? Do you have a right to home school your children. If so what are the limits, if any, of that right? Where does that right come from?
Links to some articles from last time Dr. Sager taught Gov 320N