Failure to Call Amendments Conventions Helps Explain Modern Federal Overreaching
This Article is a modified version of one appearing in the American Thinker. If President after President failed to veto bills, would it surprise you if congressional power grew at the expense of the presidency? If the Senate never blocked the President’s appointments, would it surprise you if presidential power expanded at the expense of […]
“Progressive” Misrepresentations of the Public Trust Doctrine
While hosting a Montana radio talk show in the late 1990s, I interviewed a prominent left-wing environmental activist. He was promoting an anti-mining ballot measure. During the interview, he read from a 16th-century book that (he said) had shown that mining had all sorts of evil effects. But something about the quote did not ring […]
New Article: Government's Obligation To Be Impartial
The Constitution was adopted amid a belief that government is a public trust.* Does the Constitution require federal and state governments to adhere to formal duties of public trust—that is, to fiduciary duties? In some places, at least, it clearly does: The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment imposes on the states what is […]
New Article: Government’s Obligation To Be Impartial
The Constitution was adopted amid a belief that government is a public trust.* Does the Constitution require federal and state governments to adhere to formal duties of public trust—that is, to fiduciary duties? In some places, at least, it clearly does: The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment imposes on the states what is […]
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 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. […]
Sources for Understanding the Constitution's Original Force
Would you like to examine some of the documents we use to better understand the original Constitution? Several years ago, I wrote the first Internet essay on how to find the sources vital to interpreting the Constitution as the Founders intended it to be. I have just updated that essay. It is called A Bibliography […]
Sources for Understanding the Constitution’s Original Force
Would you like to examine some of the documents we use to better understand the original Constitution? Several years ago, I wrote the first Internet essay on how to find the sources vital to interpreting the Constitution as the Founders intended it to be. I have just updated that essay. It is called A Bibliography […]
Justice Thomas, Quoting Rob Natelson, Had the Constitution Correct In the Arizona Citizenship-for-Voting Case
NOTE: This is the first of several short commentaries on recent Supreme Court decisions. The Supreme Court recently ruled that Arizona’s law requiring proof of citizenship for voting violates federal statutes. In his dissent, Justice Thomas relied heavily on my own research. The Independence Institute did not participate in that case. So how did it […]
Constitutional Arcana: The Forgotten Navigation Convention of 1786
In an earlier post, I reported that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was far from unique: that during the lifetime of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) nearly 20 inter-colonial and interstate conventions met. Some were attended by as few as three colonies or states; others by as many as 12. These multi-governmental conventions were held in Philadelphia […]
The Constitution’s officers
Proceeding on the very reasonable theory that the Founders knew what they were doing . . . Seth Barrett Tillman has spent considerable effort reconstructing the meanings of different office/officer phrases.
Did the Founders expect the Courts to Declare Laws Unconstitutional?
Every so often I’m asked whether the Founders anticipated judicial review. In other words, whether the Founders expected the courts to void laws they found unconstitutional. The clear answer is “yes.” During the colonial era, each colony was governed by its charter, which was a kind of constitution for the colony. Colonial laws in violation […]
