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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Latest Posts
A Victory for the Tenth Amendment in the Supreme Court0
- June 20, 2011
Two years ago, I posted an item on the Tenth Amendment Center website entitled, “It’s the People’s Right.” My point was that federalism was not created primarily for the benefit of the states or state officials, but for the protection of individual liberty. I didn’t invent this argument—many others have recognized that it is the
READ MOREMore evidence the Constitution limited federal power0
- June 19, 2011
In my last post I showed how pre-Revolutionary colonial pamphlets espousing the American cause tend to rebut a favorite theory of some “progressive” writers—that the Constitution granted Congress almost complete power over all activities with interstate effects. Surprisingly, most delegates to the 1787 constitutional convention initially favored a central government nearly that powerful. They would
READ MOREHow Pre-Revolution Pamphlets Help Show that a Key “Progressive” Constitutional Theory Is Wrong0
- June 12, 2011
Writers on the Constitution frequently overlook valuable aids to interpreting the document. I previously have mentioned the example of eighteenth-century law books. Also largely neglected are the pre-Revolutionary pamphlets written by Americans defending their colonies against British overreaching. (For an article on constitutional sources, click here.) These pamphlets were composed from 1763 until the outbreak
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Obamacare is NOT “necessary and proper”0
- June 5, 2011
The Independence Institute has filed amicus briefs in two of the anti-Obamacare cases. The briefs focus specifically on the Necessary and Proper Clause (I-8-18), which the Obama administration inaccurately claims justifies federal control of health care. The briefs survey the original meaning of the Necessary and Proper Clause, based on my research and that of
READ MOREYes, you can vote on taxes and laws in a republic!0
- May 27, 2011
Despite what you may have heard, allowing people to vote on taxes and other laws is completely consistent with the “republican form of government.” There is an old, and bogus, claim that to the contrary: that the U.S. Constitution requires states to lock citizens out from direct lawmaking. The argument is that only a system
READ MOREGOP blocks Liu from federal judgeship0
- May 22, 2011
There has been much attention recently on the Republican decision to block President Obama’s nomination of law professor Goodwin Liu for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Attention is focused on his allegedly out-of-the-mainstream legal views. But to this ex-law professor, Liu doesn’t look that unusual. He looks like just another
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Contact
Rob Natelson, Senior Fellow, Constitutional Jurisprudence
Email: rob.natelson1@gmail.com
Phone: 303-279-6536, ext 114