New evidence on the “Power To . . . regulate . . . Commerce”
The three recently-issued Pennsylvania volumes . . . offer virtually no support to the commerce-is-everything school of thought. On the contrary, in the documents reproduced in this volumes “commerce” clearly refers to a concept separate from other economic and non-economic activities.
First decision of the Supreme Court Term: a unanimous liberal result
The statute is based on an overly-expansive definition of congressional power . . . But no member of the court wrote a concurring opinion to point that out . . .
New information on the Constitution’s ratification — Part III: Vermont
New Hampshire was, and is, quite a small state, but its ratification was particularly significant.
New information on the Constitution’s ratification — Part II: New Hampshire
New Hampshire was, and is, quite a small state, but its ratification was particularly significant.
Evidence on the Powers the Constitution Leaves Exclusively to the States
This column also appears at CNSNews. The Constitution enumerates the powers of the federal government. But has anyone listed the exclusive powers of states—the realm the federal government may not invade without violating the Constitution? When discussing state authority, the Founders usually pointed out only that the federal government’s powers were, as Madison said, “few […]
More Evidence From Last Term That It’s Not a “Conservative Supreme Court”
Note: This article was first published at cns news. There is a common media myth that the current U.S. Supreme Court, or at least a majority of the current justices, is “conservative.” But if a “conservative” justice is one who consistently interprets the Constitution in accordance with traditional methods of judging—as the Founders intended for […]
The Meaning of the Commerce Power and Congress’s and the Courts’ Use (And Abuse) Of It
Are you interested in the true meaning of, and limits on, the Constitution’s much-abused Commerce Power? In a speech at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on November 19, 2013, I outlined the intended scope of the power, how I reached my conclusions, and how the Supreme Court has stretched the Commerce Power […]
How a Conspiracy Cracked a Monopoly
Anyone interested in the constitutional debate over the “Affordable Care Act” should pick up a copy of the new book, A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case. This “conspiracy” was not a political plot or an illegal combination. Rather, it is one of the nation’s two top constitutional law websites—a […]
Do the Feds Belong in Indian Adoption Law? (Together with another Natelson citation in the Supreme Court and an acknowledgment of Lisa Morris)
(Note: This is the second of several short commentaries on recent Supreme Court decisions.) There is little more heart-rending than the sorrow of a child. The sorrow of a child—and of her adoptive parents—created one of the Supreme Court’s more compelling cases this term. I was happy to be cited extensively in one of the […]
A Colonial Pamphlet Helps Show Why the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause Granted No Power
Learn more: Hear a podcast on this subject. As I have noted before (for example, here and here) pamphlets written in support of the colonial cause during the years 1763-1774 help us greatly in understanding the language of the Constitution. Unfortunately, most constitutional writers regularly overlook those pamphlets—one reason mistakes of constitutional interpretation are so […]
The Great Forgetting
The meaning of some of the Constitution’s 18th century terminology was lost during the 19th century, leading to widespread misunderstanding.
The 1798 “Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen:” Yet another “progessive” irrelevancy
As Tom Woods points out on his blog, advocates of Obamacare have dug up a 1798 federal statute that, they say, shows that the original understanding of the Constitution is broad enough to authorize federal health care programs. The statute authorized creation of federal hospitals for sailors. After I entered a brief response to his […]
