September 20, 2018

POS 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Thursday 9/20, I distributed 2 handouts: my version of the outline of Sotomayor's dissent in Trinity Lutheran, and the majority opinion in the recent case of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. We finished going through the outline of Sotomayor's dissent, highlighting her views on "religious activity" and the use of strict scrutiny. Along the way, we went over the tests involved in strict scrutiny, and also the difference between a concurrence in the opinion versus a concurrence in the judgment. We then went into the reading from the textbook. I talked about the cases that preceded the assigned pages in the text, including Sherbert and Yoder. We went over the cases discussed in the text, including Thomas and Bob Jones University (p. 114), and Lee and Goldman (p. 115). We will pick up next Tuesday with the rest of the assigned textbook reading, Employment Div. v. Smith and its aftermath (the RFRA).
The assignment for Tuesday 9/25 is to review Smith (previously assigned) and to read and outline (not handed in or graded) the majority opinion in Masterpiece Cakeshop that I distributed today.


POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Thursday 9/20 we picked up with the dissenting opinions in Miller. We saw how Roberts and Thomas, though they both dissented, had different ideas about the method of defining what the words of the 8th Amendment mean (evolving standards of decency versus original meaning). We also discussed how Roberts deferred to the legislative judgment about what was allowable punishment for juveniles, and whether that fit into the concept of a constitution that puts certain choices off the table for the legislature. After finishing Miller, I discussed the 2016 Supreme Court case of Montgomery v. Alabama. In that case, the Court majority decided that the Miller opinion applies retroactively. I went over the votes in the 2 cases, Miller and Montgomery, and what we might discern from those votes. We went over the retroactivity rules regarding substantive versus procedural rules. We then went over the two Due Process clauses in the amendments to the constitution, and why we have two of them. I discussed the history of the 14th Amendment, and how we got to the concept of substantive due process. One thing I forgot to go over was the handout with the Maine sentencing statutes, so we'll go back and discuss that as well.
The assignment for Tuesday 9/25 is read Washington v.Glucksberg (pp. 26-34). Do a case brief of the majority opinion in Glucksberg (not handed in or graded).