April 7, 2014

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Monday 4/7, I first went over my plan to distribute case brief assignment #2 this Friday, 4/11, to be due Friday 4/18. We then launched back into Gonzales v. Raich. We talked about the 9th and 10th Amendments, the Wickard, Lopez, and Morrison decisions, the Supreme Court's limited role overseeing Congressional determinations in this area, the Supremacy clause, and the Necessary and Proper Clause. On Wednesday we'll discuss the status of state medical and recreational marijuana laws, and also go over further developments in both the Raich case and the interstate commerce power. The assignment for Wednesday 4/9 is to read in the text through p. 105 (Butler).


POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Monday 4/7, I distributed one handout, an expansion of what the textbook gave us of Scalia's limits on the 2nd Amendment individual protections. I first drew Venn diagrams of how Scalia fit the militia language together with individual rights (contrasting citizen's militias with organized militias). We then looked at the limitations that Scalia found in the individual right. We will finish Scalia's opinion, and go into Stevens' and Breyer's dissents, on Wednesday. The assignment for Wednesday 4/9 is to review once more D.C. v. Heller.


POS 359 THE CURRENT SUPREME COURT TERM
In class today, Monday 4/7, we first went over a few questions concerning the Free Exercise assignment due this Friday. We then finished up our discussion of Hobby Lobby. We talked about the least restrictive alternative requirement, both where it comes from and whether government could alternatively just pay for the objected-to contraceptives with its own money. Then we talked both about how the case will come out, and how it should come out. The assignment for Wednesday 4/9 is to continue working on the Free Exercise paper, due Friday.