Town of Greece Case Returns the Establishment Clause To Its Original Meaning
Last week I reported on Justice Thomas’ citation of my work in his concurring opinion in Town of Greece v. Galloway, a widely-discussed decision on the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. This week, I’ll put the decision in context. The meaning of the Establishment Clause (“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of […]
Rob Natelson Cited Again at Supreme Court—This Time in a Religion Case
I’m pleased to report that this past week the brilliant Justice Clarence Thomas cited my work on the Necessary and Proper Clause in his concurring opinion in Town of Greece v. Galloway, an Establishment Clause case that received wide publicity. This was the thirteenth citation in the third Supreme Court case in the past 11 […]
Get Members of Congress Out of the Business of Rigging Campaign Rules
The Supreme Court’s latest campaign finance decision, McCutcheon v. FEC, has sent up the predictable howls. In McCutcheon, the Court struck down, as violating the First Amendment, certain incumbent-protection rules that Members of Congress had rigged for their own election campaigns. But no one—including the Court—has yet convincingly addressed a question even more fundamental than […]
Ownership of Federal Land: Answers Suggested by the Bundy Standoff
The Bundy stand-off in Nevada has induced several people to ask me about the extent to which the federal government can own land, at least under the Constitution’s intended meaning. As it happens, in 2005 I studied the issue in depth, and published the following article: Federal Land Retention and the Constitution’s Property Clause: The […]
The Evidence Continues to Pile Up on “Recess Appointments”
Earlier this year, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy published my article showing that the Constitution’s Recess Appointments Clause limits presidential vacancy appointments far more than President Obama (and most prior Presidents) have claimed. I posted earlier on the same subject here. The issue is before the Supreme Court right now. The Recess […]
A Legal Treatise on the Law of Amendment Conventions—For Free!
A spate of new applications from state legislatures for a “convention for proposing amendments” make it more likely that we will have an amendments convention in the near future. In order to get ready for this historic event, lawyers, legislators, and others involved in the process need a reliable guide to the law governing amendment […]
How Do We Know an Article V Amendments Convention is a “Convention of the States?” Because Both the Founders and the Supreme Court Said So
Article V of the Constitution authorizes a “Convention for proposing Amendments.” However, it does did not specify how the convention is to be composed. People unfamiliar with constitutional history sometimes claim the makeup of an amendments convention is either a complete mystery or subject to the determination of Congress. Nonsense. For one thing, the Supreme […]
The American Founders: Latin Lovers
Take out a dollar bill and look on the back. There you will see the two sides of the Great Seal of the United States. Look at the left hand side—the circle with the pyramid. Above the pyramid is a representation of the Eye of Providence—of God. Above the eye is the phrase, Annuit coeptis. […]
The Lamp of Experience: Constitutional Amendments Work
(This article originally appeared in the American Thinker.) Opponents of a Convention of States long argued that there was an unacceptable risk a convention might do too much. It now appears they were mistaken. So they increasingly argue that amendments cannot do enough. The “too much” contention was first promulgated in modern times by apologists […]
A Modern Quasi-Convention of States
Many opponents of an Article V convention seem to think that it would be a nearly unique event, for which the “only precedent” would be the 1787 constitutional convention. Some even go so far as to oppose non-Article V gatherings among the states. As regular readers know, the idea that a convention of states would […]
Is the Obamacare Mandate Unconstitutional Because It Originated in the Senate?
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or “Obamacare”) imposes a sliding-scale financial penalty on people who do not buy health insurance conforming to federal standards. In NFIB v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court upheld the penalty as a constitutional “tax.” But that may not be the last word on its constitutionality. A lawsuit brought […]
A New Triumph for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (and for II's Dave Kopel)
A federal court of appeals has just vindicated the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms in a big way. And II’s own Dave Kopel was largely responsible. California denied citizens the right to carry firearms outside their homes, unless they obtained a concealed weapons permit. But to get such a permit, citizens had […]
