The Lords' Tale - fantastic documentary on Lord's Reform in 1999.

Molly Dineen's documentary recalling the events of 1999 when hereditary peers were kicked out of the House of Lords.

Look here for news stories about UK constitutional reform!

The Guardian has a section of its website dedicated to news items about constitutional reform. Definitely worth a look.

Supreme Court and the protection of rights and liberties

Our next section looks at the Supreme Court and the protection of rights and liberties. 

The key questions you need to be able to answer are: 

1. What is the structure of the federal courts in the USA? 
2. What is the membership of the Supreme Court? 
3. How does the appointment process work? 
4. What is the power of judicial review? 
5. What have been the recent landmark decisions of the Supreme Court? 
6. How might the Roberts Court differ from the Rehnquist Court?
7. What checks exist on the Court's power? 
8. Is the Court now the 'Roberts Court'?

Resources

• The place to start for electronic sources on the US Supreme Court is the Court's own website. The 'About the Supreme Court' button is the best one to use from the home page. You can also research Supreme Court decisions by going to the button marked 'Opinions' but be aware that these are the actual opinions and hence highly detailed and not easy for the layperson/student to readily understand.

• There is also Scot's US blog which has some impressive but very accessible statistics on each recent term of the Court. For each case it has a short paragraph entitled 'Plain English' with a brief explanation of the case in 'plain English.'

• There is also a website from Cornell University in the States, , which gives a brief commentary on Supreme Court decisions, and which makes them much easier to follow than the full opinion. 

• This useful government site gives clear explanations of the Court's procedure as well as simulations of Court decision making. 

• More widely on the federal judiciary, the website of the Federal Judicial Center is quite helpful at .

• Media sites such as the Washington Post and New York Times give regular reports on matters relating to the Supreme Court.

• The website of the Senate Judiciary Committee will have details of any judicial confirmation hearings that may take place. 

You may also want to consult websites relating to some of the specific rights and liberties discussed in the Constitution. These include:

www.aclu.org
www.freespeechcoalition.com
www.nra.org
www.bradycenter.org
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
www.naacp.org
www.affirmativereaction.org
www.nrlc.org
www.plannedparenthood.org
www.now

Janet Yellen to be nominated as next head of the US Federal Reserve

US President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Janet Yellen to be the next head of the US central bank on Wednesday, according to a White House official.

If confirmed by the US Senate, Ms Yellen, 67, would replace Ben Bernanke, who has held the post for eight years.

She has been his deputy for the last two years, and would become the first woman to head the Federal Reserve.

Ms Yellen and Mr Bernanke are due to appear with the president on Wednesday.

She has taught at Harvard University and the London School of Economics, as well as holding a series of senior administrative positions in the US.

Read more on this story at the BBC

See Mark Mardell, BBC North America Editor's opinion on Yellen's nomination here

ConstitutionUK: Crowdsourcing the UK's Constitution - Event tomorrow evening at the LSE

Crowdsourcing a New UK Constitution: Launch Event 8th October

Tuesday 8 October 2013, 6.30pm – 8pm

Sheikh Zayed Theatre, New Academic Building

Panel: David Blunkett MP, Richard Gordon QC, Carol Harlow QC, Dr Lea Ypi

Host: Professor Conor Gearty

Join the debate on Twitter. Tweet your thoughts to using the hashtag #ConstitutionUK or follow us @ConstitutionUK

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required. Entry is on a first come, first served basis. For any queries email events@lse.ac.uk or call 020 7955 6043.

What is Constitution UK?

Constitution UK is a trailblazing project led by the LSE that invites members of the public to participate in, offer advice on and eventually to draft a new UK constitution through crowdsourcing.

The process is simple but key to the success of Constitution UK. Through this blog and other social media you will debate and develop a UK constitution.

We are encouraging participation from across the UK, from all ages and communities. We welcome international input. We want to know who does this better and why.

Keen contributors will be invited to a Constitutional Carnival in April 2014 when a first draft will be thrashed out.

Interesting radio documentary on UK Devolution, and how it has impacted lives of teenagers

The Young Devolutionaries is a BBC 4 radio programme looking at the generation who have grown up under devolution. Now, nine teenagers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales share their vision of the system that bought them up.

David Cameron has recently denied a Lib Dem claim that Conservatives are blocking further devolution to Wales. He has told the BBC that he is attracted by the idea of the Welsh government being able to raise some of its own budget. 

The Silk Commission is examining the future of devolution in Wales and has recommended some tax-varying powers. It is due to publish a report of recommendations in Spring 2014.

However the UK government has said in the past it does not believe there is a case for radical changes to Welsh devolution. 

 

UPDATE: A very useful update on the British Constitution

UPDATE: What's been happening to the British Constitution over the summer?

• Ongoing debate and confusion about Bill of Rights reform 
• Freedom of Information 
• Scotland
• Britain and the EU
• Collective Ministerial Responsibility
• The Civil Service
• National Security
• Freedom of Expression 
• Prisoner's right to vote
• Lord Chancellor's plans to reform legal aid
• Transparency of Lobbying, Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill
• Provisions in planned Immigration Bill 

For more information on these developments visit Professor Adam Tomkins' blog here