constitutional law Archives - Independence Institute

Drafting a Balanced Budget Amendment: It’s tougher than you might think 0
- July 21, 2017
Of course, it is one thing to criticize, but another to try to craft something better.
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With due respect to the Supreme Court, some campaign finance laws are unconstitutional 0
- July 17, 2017
But Citizens United included a second decision, one rarely mentioned. In this part of the case, the court upheld federal laws requiring contributors to political ads to publicly reveal their names. Unlike the first ruling, the second was a constitutional mistake. Although the court has since reaffirmed its position, it should promptly reconsider.
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Supreme Court’s Ruling Against the PC Police 0
- June 23, 2017
The Supreme Court’s decision this week in Matal v. Tam sent a clear warning to government officials who seek to curtail speech they deem offensive: We won’t let you do it! The warning was particularly pointed for the PC Police at state universities who try to close down viewpoints they find “offensive.” A federal law ordered the
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The Define and Punish Clause doesn’t authorize vast federal power either 0
- June 14, 2017
Legal commentators have spread a good deal of ink trying to show that the Constitution authorizes the enormous expansion of the federal government since the 1930s. Leading the way have been some associated—as professors, students, or alumni—with the most privileged educational institutions: Harvard, Yale, Chicago, and so forth. Their publications inflated the Commerce Clause to
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Fake News: How Leading Liberal Newspapers Spread the “Runaway Convention” Story 0
- June 11, 2017
Although there were scattered antecedents, “runaway convention” claims and certain associated myths were first distributed widely during the 1960s and 1970s. In a previous Article V Information Center study, I documented how those stories were publicized by leading opinion-molders in the national liberal establishment. Their goal was to disable the Article V convention process to
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The Convention of States in American History 0
- June 1, 2017
In this short essay, constitutional historian Rob Natelson thumbnails the three-centuries long history of “conventions of the states.” When delegations from the states assemble in Phoenix, Arizona later this year, they will be basking in a long and rich American tradition. As far back as 1677, British colonies in North America sent “commissioners” (delegates) to
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