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 1889 St. Louis Convention of States0
- February 11, 2017
A frequent argument against a convention for proposing constitutional amendments is that there are “no precedents” for determining the rules and procedures for such a gathering, other than the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Although opponents persist in this claim, it has long been debunked: The Constitutional Convention was far from the only meeting of its
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Judge Gorsuch and the Independence Institute0
- January 31, 2017
The Independence Institute has specific reason to celebrate the nomination of Judge Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. In 2011, a group of anti-TABOR plaintiffs sued in Denver federal court, arguing that TABOR violated the U.S. Constitution because it was inconsistent with the Constitution’s guarantee that every state have a “republican form of government.” (Kerr v.
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New Video on TABOR—the Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights0
- January 31, 2017
Fred Holden (below) and Rob Natelson, both Senior Fellows at the Independence Institute, talk about the famous Colorado Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in this interview.
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Reduce Holdings of Federal Lands0
- January 29, 2017
Interior secretary nominee Ryan Zinke served his country honorably as a Navy SEAL, but in affirming in his federal lands testimony that he would refuse to loosen the government’s chokehold on America’s land, he did the U.S. a disservice. Reasonable people can disagree about how much territory the government should own. As an avid outdoorsman, I’m sympathetic
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State Lawmakers! Don’t Put Extraneous Matter in Your Article V Application0
- January 20, 2017
by Robert G. Natelson State lawmakers sponsoring an Article V convention application often find that other lawmakers want to add extraneous matter to the application. This may include conditions beyond the mere subject-matter, instructions to commissioners, specific amendment language, convention rules, and pronouncements of various kinds. Don’t agree! Adding such material is both unprofessional and
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Constitutional Convention: John Jay Letter Shows Its Power Came from State Legislatures, not Congress0
- January 14, 2017
A persistent constitutional myth has it that (1) Congress called the Constitutional Convention under the Articles of Confederation, (2) the convention drew its power from Congress, and (3) the convention exceeded its power when it recommended a new Constitution rather than merely propose amendments to the Articles. As readers of this website know, however, the
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Contact
Rob Natelson, Senior Fellow, Constitutional Jurisprudence
Email: rob.natelson1@gmail.com
Phone: 303-279-6536, ext 114