It's about time I started this blog. I have been teaching Constitutional Law online at Johnson State College for several years. And I have been teaching the Constitution on the ground at the Winooski campus of the Community College of Vermont for several years as well.
I am going to start with two things that I came across in the June 2014 issue of the ABA journal. The first has to do with wiretaps. There was a nice story about how during Prohibition, the Supreme Court ruled that warrantless wiretaps were legal. In Olmstead v United States, by a 5-4 decision in 1928, Chief Justice Taft said that no warrant was required because the Fourth Amendment only protected "... material things - the person, the house, his papers or his effects." In dissent, Justice Louis Brandeis argued that the majority ignored the rise of technology. Many would agree with Justice Brandeis that technology changes now mean we need more changes in interpretation of the Constitution. Here is one url for the full Olmstead decision: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5577544660194763070&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
Olmstead was overturned in 1967 by the Supreme Court's decision in Katz v United States. Here is one url for the full Katz decision: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/389/347#writing-USSC_CR_0389_0347_ZD
The second issue is the upcoming 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015. Here is a quote from the ABA President's Message:
The Magna Carta paved the way for core legal principles such as due process of law, habeas corpus, trial by jury and the right to a speedy trial. The document presented a template for a higher law that could not be changed by executive mandate or legislative acts. America's founders embraced the concept of the law of the land in the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. You can learn more about the Magna Carta and the 800th anniversary by visiting this page: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/magnacarta.html
I am going to start with two things that I came across in the June 2014 issue of the ABA journal. The first has to do with wiretaps. There was a nice story about how during Prohibition, the Supreme Court ruled that warrantless wiretaps were legal. In Olmstead v United States, by a 5-4 decision in 1928, Chief Justice Taft said that no warrant was required because the Fourth Amendment only protected "... material things - the person, the house, his papers or his effects." In dissent, Justice Louis Brandeis argued that the majority ignored the rise of technology. Many would agree with Justice Brandeis that technology changes now mean we need more changes in interpretation of the Constitution. Here is one url for the full Olmstead decision: http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5577544660194763070&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr
Olmstead was overturned in 1967 by the Supreme Court's decision in Katz v United States. Here is one url for the full Katz decision: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/389/347#writing-USSC_CR_0389_0347_ZD
The second issue is the upcoming 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta in 2015. Here is a quote from the ABA President's Message:
The Magna Carta paved the way for core legal principles such as due process of law, habeas corpus, trial by jury and the right to a speedy trial. The document presented a template for a higher law that could not be changed by executive mandate or legislative acts. America's founders embraced the concept of the law of the land in the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. You can learn more about the Magna Carta and the 800th anniversary by visiting this page: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/leadership/office_of_the_president/magnacarta.html
No comments:
Post a Comment