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 […]
Struggling With Nullification
Does a state have the right to nullify federal statutes the state considers unconstitutional? This depends largely on how you define “nullification.” It also depends on what you mean by “right” and what kind of document you understand the Constitution to be. In other words, it depends on your premises. Unfortunately, people often discuss—and debate, […]
Lessons For Federalism from Colorado’s Pot “Legalization”
(An earlier version of this post appeared on the website of The American Thinker.) It’s ironic that one of the few “states’ rights” battles won in recent times was Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana in the teeth of federal laws to the contrary. Pot really isn’t legal in Colorado, of course. The federal government still […]
Bennett-Burr “Bipartisanship” = Yet Another Federal Power Grab
When politicians start talking about “bi-partisan cooperation,” smart citizens get nervous. It usually means another transfer of freedom and taxes to the federal government at the expense of individuals, families, localities, and states. Case in point: a Denver Post op-ed by two U.S. Senators (or their staffs) on their latest “bipartisan” deal. The Senators are […]
A Summary of How States Push Back Against Washington
The Cato Institute has published a new paper by Professor John Dinan that summarizes all the credible ways in which the states can and do push back against Washington, D.C. The only omission to this excellent summary is the states’ amendment powers under the Constitution’s Article V. (Although the states have never forced Congress to […]
Federalism (“States’ Rights”) Get Short Shrift in Colorado Judicial Exhibit
I recently visited the new Ralph Carr Colorado Judicial Center—the huge and incredibly expensive building complex that now houses the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. But even after spending $258 million, they couldn’t get one sign right. An exhibit there has the worthy purpose of educating the public about the rule of law. […]
Memo to Justice Kagan: Taxes Are Coercive
Apparently Justice Elena Kagan is oblivious to the obvious fact that taxes are coercive, in that they forcibly take wealth away from the owners of that wealth and give it to others. Continue reading
Independence Institute’s amicus brief on Fed’s mandate to expand Medicaid eligibility
At the The Volokh Conspiracy, Independence Institute’s Research Director Dave Kopel writes: “On behalf of the Independence Institute, Rob Natelson and I wrote an amicus brief on the Medicaid mandate currently before the Supreme Court. (The ACA requirement that states must drastically expand Medicaid eligibility, or lose all their federal matching funds for Medicaid.)” Continue reading
Restoring Federalism and State Sovereignty: A Constitutional Path to Prosperity
The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution provides: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.”
Over the first century of our nation’s history the 10th Amendment was an important part of the Constitutional rules constraining the growth of the federal government.
