The Constitutional Studies Center combines careful, objective scholarship into the original understanding of the Constitution with advocacy for human freedom under law. It produces books, issue papers, articles, and legal briefs reporting the results of its research. Since 2010, the Center has had enormous influence on constitutional law cases and commentary, but also on policy makers and grass roots activists. For example, the Center’s research findings galvanized the massive and growing “Article V” movement to restore constitutional limits on the federal government.
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The Court of Appeals’ Anti-TABOR Decision0
- March 17, 2014
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently refused to dismiss the suit by various public sector interests to invalidate Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR). The plaintiffs claim that TABOR violates Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. That provision is called the Guarantee Clause because it guarantees that the
READ MOREThe Lamp of Experience: Constitutional Amendments Work0
- March 9, 2014
(This article originally appeared in the American Thinker.) Opponents of a Convention of States long argued that there was an unacceptable risk a convention might do too much. It now appears they were mistaken. So they increasingly argue that amendments cannot do enough. The “too much” contention was first promulgated in modern times by apologists
READ MOREA Modern Quasi-Convention of States0
- March 1, 2014
Many opponents of an Article V convention seem to think that it would be a nearly unique event, for which the “only precedent” would be the 1787 constitutional convention. Some even go so far as to oppose non-Article V gatherings among the states. As regular readers know, the idea that a convention of states would
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Is the Obamacare Mandate Unconstitutional Because It Originated in the Senate?0
- February 24, 2014
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or “Obamacare”) imposes a sliding-scale financial penalty on people who do not buy health insurance conforming to federal standards. In NFIB v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court upheld the penalty as a constitutional “tax.” But that may not be the last word on its constitutionality. A lawsuit brought
READ MOREA New Triumph for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (and for II's Dave Kopel)0
- February 14, 2014
A federal court of appeals has just vindicated the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in a big way. And II’s own Dave Kopel was largely responsible. California denied citizens the right to carry firearms outside their homes, unless they obtained a concealed weapons permit. But to get such a permit, citizens had
READ MORERob’s Harvard Article on “Recess Appointments” Is Published—and Goes to the Supreme Court0
- February 8, 2014
Last May, I reported that litigation over President Obama’s “recess appointments” was going to the Supreme Court. In fact, oral argument was held a few weeks ago. The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy has just published my article on the original meaning of the Recess Appointments Clause. It reports that the Constitution uses
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Contact
Rob Natelson, Senior Fellow, Constitutional Jurisprudence
Email: rob.natelson1@gmail.com
Phone: 303-279-6536, ext 114