Colorado's Billion-Dollar Tax Hike Proposal: Really Bad Constitution-Writing
Hear Justin Longo’s interview with Rob on Amendment 66. Colorado’s Amendment 66—the billion dollar tax hike—is a constitutional monstrosity. Amendment 66 is, technically, not entirely a constitutional amendment. It is an unusual hybrid of constitutional amendment and change in the state tax law. The secretary of state refers to it as Initiative 22, and it […]
Madison and the Amendments Convention: A New Chapter in a Brand New Book
A new book, edited by Professor Neil H. Cogan, has just been issued in which well-known constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum explore issues of state interposition, nullification, and secession. I am among the contributors: I wrote the second chapter, which is entitled James Madison and the Constitution’s Convention for Proposing Amendments. The book […]
May state legislative applications limit an Article V convention? Subject, yes; specific language, probably not
Some constitutional scholars believe state applications for a convention for proposing amendments may limit the convention to voting “yes” or “no” on a specifically-worded amendment. A prescribed-wording application, they say, reduces the fear of a “runaway” convention and places the state legislatures in the equal position with Congress that Article V of the Constitution was […]
How We Have Learned More and More About the Constitution's "Convention for Proposing Amendments"
Listen to Mark Levin’s interview of Rob here. (Go to Aug. 29 podcast, and fast forward to minute 55.) This past week, conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly contributed a short piece to Townhall.com in which she attacked the movement for an Article V convention. As I wrote in my response, she was relying on claims about […]
And You “Can’t” Defund Obamacare . . . Why?
Freedom and popular government in Britain and America became possible because over the course of many years the House of Commons, and later the American colonial legislatures, were willing to exert the power of the purse to discipline an overreaching executive. In Britain, the House of Commons—Parliament’s lower chamber—sometimes defunded the executive in order to […]
The Problems With Repealing the Direct Election of Senators/17th Amendment
Some political activists argue for repeal of the 17th amendment. In other words, they want to end popular elections of U.S. Senators and return to the original constitutional system of election by state legislatures. Repeal advocates argue that the pre-17th amendment system better preserved federalism than does direct election. Whatever the theoretical merits of their […]
Where is the Power to Suspend Habeas Corpus?
The Constitution’s Suspension Clause (Art. I, Section 9, cl. 2) limits when the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended. But the Constitution doesn’t seem to grant the federal government power to suspend the writ in the first place. Why not? And why limit a power never given? In an Aug. 17 Wall Street Journal […]
Mark Levin's New Book on Amendments
I have received many requests that I review radio talk-show host Mark Levin’s new book, The Liberty Amendments. Although I favor adopting one or more amendments to restore the federal government to constitutional limits, I generally do not take positions on specific proposed amendments. My mission is to research our Constitution and educate others about […]
Must the Federal Government Honor an "Equal Protection" Rule?
Does the Constitution require the federal government to afford “equal protection of the laws?” At first glance at the Constitution’s text, it would appear not. There is no general Equal Protection Clause in the Constitution applying to the federal government—although there are a lot of clauses requiring equal treatment in specific situations. The Equal Protection […]
The Supreme Court’s Latest Voting Rights Case
(This is the last of five commentaries on recent Supreme Court decisions.) The Fifteenth Amendment, adopted five years after Civil War ended, was designed primarily to secure the right to vote for newly-freed slaves. Section 1 of the Amendment provides that “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied […]
The Defense of Marriage Act Case: A Carcass for Constitutional Vultures
(This is the fourth of several short commentaries on recent Supreme Court decisions.) U.S. v. Windsor—the case in which the Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)—is a carcass from which constitutional flesh-pickers will feast for a very long time. It is one of those cases like Dred Scott v. Sandford or […]
Justices Make It Tougher for State Universities to Discriminate, But Not Tough Enough
(This is the third of several short commentaries on recent Supreme Court decisions.) The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Fisher v. University of Texas has made it tougher for state universities to run their ethnic spoils systems. But not tough enough. First, the background: The Fourteenth Amendment requires states to extend “equal protection of the […]
