Constitutional Law CLE

Defamation Law has its origins in church doctrine and has undergone various significant changes over the last nearly 1,000 years. Because the action in the United States is based on state law, the elements one will need to prove may differ depending on the jurisdiction. In this Overview of Defamation Law, attorneys he presentation discusses both recent articles and cases addressing various aspects of a Defamation claim, including jurisdiction, venue, the requisite elements, and what is need to have success at summary judgment.

The Supreme Court’s October Term 2020 included important decisions in many areas of law, including free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, intellectual property, and voting rights. The lecture will describe the most important cases from October Term 2020 and explain their significance for the law and for society.

This course is designed to give the participant an insight into the reasons behind athlete activism and taking stances on political and social stances in the sports world, as well as how to advise sports-clients on the legal and practical implications involved in choosing to take a stance – no matter the type of statement to be made.

From Jones to Riley to Carpenter, the Supreme Court has changed the landscape of 4th and 5th Amendment law in the digital realm. This CLE will explore the effects of these landmark cases and identify areas of further challenges for the defense. Attendees will learn about how courts are applying the 4th and 5th Amendments to new forms of digital evidence and will learn to spot potential Constitutional Issues involving digital devices. Section one will take a look at the three seminal cases from the US Supreme Court dealing with digital evidence: Jones, Riley, and Carpenter. Section two will review cases based on Carpenter, and its impacts on various platforms such as Google and Facebook. Section three covers current case law regarding compelling suspects to turn over passwords or fingerprints to unlock cellphones.

The purpose of this course is to introduce listeners to the various kinds of litigation that arise under Title VII. We will discuss the background of Title VII and legal developments that have shaped the law into what it is today. We will also discuss the various kinds of claims and the general elements of each claim. Listeners will be left with an understanding of the general framework for Title VII Litigation.

While the First Amendment is most commonly associated with "free speech,” there are five distinct freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment: freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, freedom to petition the government for redress of grievances, and the prohibition of an establishment of a state religion in America. These limitations on government power over individual expression and association stand at the core of the American conception civil liberties, to such an extent that we often disregard them in our day to day lives. In this course, the celebrated retired civil rights attorney Samuel B. Cohen will explore the historical purposes and present applications of the First Amendment, showing the evolution of original concepts and the ways the law has adapted to meet new concerns in light of First Amendment rights. He will provide guidance for identifying and pleading First Amendment issues in litigation, as well as talking points for discussing the First Amendment with non-lawyers.

The Due Process clauses and Equal Protection of the Fourteenth Amendment are intended to guarantee uniform access to the law, and protection from state overreach, for all Americans. Beyond even those bold purposes, however, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process clause has also been read to “incorporate” various rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, so that the states cannot encroach on them, where previously only the federal government was so restricted. In this course, the celebrated retired civil rights attorney Samuel B. Cohen will explore the historical purposes and present applications of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, showing how present Court doctrine differs from the framers’ intentions, and what rights from the Bill of Rights have been “incorporated” as to the states and found by Courts to exist in the Bill of Rights’ “penumbrae and emanations.” He will provide guidance for identifying and pleading Due Process and Equal Protection issues in litigation, as well as talking points for discussing these complex topics with non-lawyers.

Have you ever thought about what is stored in your mobile phone, smartwatch, or laptop when you travel, and who can access that information? This course will address the current state of the law governing searches of international travelers’ electronic devices at the U.S. border. The course will then discuss the changing legal landscape in light of technological advancements in the amount of digital data that people carry with them when they travel.

In January 2022, the Supreme Court issued two highly-anticipated opinions about the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Emergency Temporary Standard on vaccination and testing (“OSHA ETS”) and the CMS Medicare and Medicaid Programs Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Interim Final Rule (“CMS Vaccine Mandate”), related to the COVID-19 vaccination. In this program, we will speak with vaccine law expert Brian Dean Abramson to review the relevant precedent and procedural history surrounding these two cases. We will use these decisions as a starting point for a broader discussion about the legal history and future of vaccination mandates in the United States.

This course will address the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on civil rights and civil liberties in the United States. AI issues constitute a fast-changing legal landscape in which courts and regulators are attempting to keep pace with rapid technological changes. Automated decision systems now affect the housing, employment, education, and credit opportunities people are given. They also affect liberty and due process rights when used by government agencies. This course will provide an overview of key legal issues that are emerging in civil rights and liberties contexts because of the use of artificial intelligence.

When a State officer violates someone’s constitutional rights, 42 USC § 1983 allows suit for money damages. But no such law allows claims against federal officials. Instead, since Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), the Supreme Court has implied a private cause of action for damages against federal officers for some types of Constitutional violations. In Ziglar v. Abbasi, 137 S. Ct. 1843 (2017), the Supreme Court substantially narrowed this doctrine, limiting the rights of people in prison or federal detention centers to sue for money damages when they have been beaten, placed in dangerous conditions of confinement, discriminated against or otherwise mistreated. This course will survey the current state of prison Bivens claims.

Until very recently, the NCAA prohibited student-athletes receiving compensation due to their “amateur” status. In this course, we examine landmark cases review the NCAA actions for potential antitrust law violations. We also look ahead to the future of college athletics in the new name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) era.

Voting is the cornerstone of democracy. Yet many states engage in ongoing efforts to suppress exercise of the franchise and have faced a series of responsive lawsuits seeking to protect the right to vote. This program will provide an overview of voting rights, beginning with a brief historical overview of the origins of voter suppression in the U.S. It will consider how election laws impact voters’ ability to register, vote, and have their vote counted, then focus on the primary constitutional and statutory bases for protecting the right to vote. The course will focus on courts’ recent application of constitutional and statutory protections for the right to vote in recent election cycles. It will review recent significant voting rights legal challenges and developments in voting and election law, compare past discriminatory voting restrictions to modern day second-generation barriers to voting, and consider examples of racial discrimination through vote dilution, undue burdens on the right to vote, gerrymandering and felony disenfranchisement. We will end by summarizing strategies to challenge voter suppression through advocacy and litigation.

Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court described our nation’s college campuses as a true “marketplace of ideas,” holding that the First Amendment protects student speech at public colleges and universities. But the Court’s 1972 ruling in Healy v. James was just the beginning. Over the decades that followed, students, administrators, attorneys, and courts have grappled with the reach, limits, and larger social importance of freedom of expression on campus, taking on everything from speech codes to bias response teams, from student publications to social media. Join Will Creeley of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education as he explores the past, present, and future of this dynamic, evolving body of constitutional case law.

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade and held that there is no constitutional right to abortion. This program will trace the path toward and beyond Roe, including the decisions involving the right to privacy and substantive due process. We conclude with some predictions about the effects of the Dobbs decision for abortion rights and other constitutional rights.

The Supreme Court decided three cases about religion in October Term 2021. One, Ramirez v. Collier, was statutory, interpreting the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act. The other two – Carson v. Makin and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District – involved the First Amendment. This course will examine the key caselaw leading up to these most recent decisions and how significantly they have changed the way the Court interprets the freedom of religion.

The Fourth Amendment’s vague directive, which prohibits the government from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, has been subject to perpetual (re)interpretation since the Founding Era. This is in part, by design. The amendment’s key terms are undefined, and thus their meanings have remained unfixed. Adding to the morass is assessing how courts should best enforce Fourth Amendment safeguards in this constantly evolving legal landscape. In this course, we will analyze how the U.S. Supreme Court (and other courts) has applied Fourth Amendment protections in resolving novel legal questions. We will also explore unresolved legal issues that courts are facing or will likely face soon. Participants in this course will gain an understanding of how Fourth Amendment law has recently changed and how the amendment’s protections might apply to individuals today.

The Supreme Court’s October Term 2021 was among the most momentous in history. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky will review the leading cases in the areas of abortion, administrative law, civil rights, federal jurisdiction, the First Amendment, and the Second Amendment, and discuss their implications for constitutional law and society.

Social media is a minefield: All of us are just a click away from going viral! But the risk of internet infamy hasn't stopped students and faculty staff from posting, sharing, and tweeting their way into free speech flare-ups at campuses across the country. So what can recent First Amendment controversies and cases involving social media teach us about freedom of expression and the First Amendment? Join Will Creeley from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression as he takes a closer look at student and faculty free speech rights in our extremely online world.

For many years, sports betting was solely considered an amenity at casinos and racetracks. Today, it is a multi-billion dollar industry legal in many U.S. states. In this course, we examine landmark cases and statutes that shaped the world of sports betting, and also look ahead to future policy and legal concerns.

For more than 150 years people have been asserting that they have an exemption from various governmental requirements based upon their sincere religious beliefs. This lecture reviews the history of those exemptions and the state of the law of freedom of religion as it is today.

Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court declared in the landmark case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District that students “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” But is that still true — and if so, what does the First Amendment mean in today’s world of Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter? As book-banning sweeps the nation, what about school libraries — are they protected by the First Amendment? Do students have a First Amendment right to access certain titles? And how about attendance and curricular issues? And how about when students arrive on college? Do their rights change? In this course, we’ll review all of these questions and more. Students: Know your rights!

The Supreme Court this past Term decided 5 Arbitration cases, each of which will be analyzed in depth. Among the questions decided were whether the “look through” doctrine adopted in Vaden v. Discover Bank to apply to motions to compel spies also to motions to confirm or vacate an arbitration award; whether a PAGA claim can proceed as a representative action and not be compelled to individual arbitration; whether an airline baggage handler is engaged in transportation and thus cannot be compelled to arbitration; and whether US court discovery rules can be used by foreign arbitration tribunals.

Many (if not most) people, including lawyers and law students, find reading and working with Federal statutes intimidating. In this course, you will learn from a person responsible for drafting many of the bills that became Federal law, what legislative drafting is, how Federal laws tend to be structured, how to parse through often confusing amendatory language, and how to craft a simple bill. This course will include a guided exercise using a hypothetical request for a bill involving none other than Little Red Riding Hood.

This course will discuss in-depth class litigation and the expansion of telemarketing Regulations, including the rent increase in state mini-TCPA’s and/or adding private causes of actions. We will then take a deep dive into the First Amendment “Commercial Speech” Doctrine discussing its outright exceptions and developing regulations, noting the difference between viewpoint and content based restrictions. Lastly, we will analyze a trio of recent cases that have raised the possibility that Central Hudson is becoming “Zombie precedent.”

Do lawyers give up some of their First Amendment free speech rights when they are sworn into the bar? This course will enlighten lawyers who have been confused about what they can and can’t say publicly while complying with legal ethics rules. We will use real cases and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct to explore where the line is with respect to lawyer advertising, trial publicity, statements to the media, political speech in the courtroom, criticism of judges, and more.

The presentation explains the legal background and purpose of the current Title IX regulations governing sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and sexual misconduct complaints in educational programs. The program summarizes the core regulatory components and outlines the Title IX investigation process from complaint through hearing with a focus on key compliance standards.

For more than 30 years, the win-loss record for tribal interests at the United State Supreme Court was dismal. Since 2018 however, tribal interests have been on a remarkable winning streak in the United States Supreme Court. But what is the continuing outlook for tribal interests at the Supreme Court? This program will analyze past cases decided by the Supreme Court and consider what they might portend for the future as well as providing a thorough analysis of the Haaland v. Bracken decision. The program will benefit tribal attorneys, practitioners of federal Indian law, and other attorneys who wish to learn more about federal Indian law.