The Principles of the Common Law
Although the Constitution is not, strictly speaking, a common law document, it was written against the backdrop of common law. The term “common law” has various meanings, but the meaning I’m using here is the system of case law we inherited from England, including the bodies of jurisprudence known as admiralty and equity. That system […]
How Liberal Propagandists Fooled Conservatives into Opposing an Amendments Convention
This article originally appeared at CNS News. Some conservative groups have become known for uncompromising opposition to the Constitution’s convention method of proposing constitutional amendments. They may think they are protecting the republic. But it turns out that they are mostly carrying water for the liberal establishment. New research shows that nearly all the arguments […]
Yet Another Multi-State Convention Uncovered
For many years, opponents of a convention for proposing amendments argued that the law governing such a convention was unknowable because the only precedent for such a gathering was the Constitutional Convention of 1787. This was always an ignorant claim, since even high schoolers learn that Annapolis, Maryland hosted a “convention of states” the previous […]
New Study Shows Campaign Disclosure Rules Violate First Amendment
This article was first published at the American Thinker website. Many commentators and politicians have attacked the Supreme Court’s 2010 case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for holding that citizens do not surrender their First Amendment rights when they organize under state corporation law. The Vermont state legislature has even adopted an application […]
What Is Tonnage?
Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 (I-10-3) of the Constitution forbids states from imposing any “Duty of Tonnage” without the consent of Congress. During the Founding Era, tonnage was a levy imposed on the cargo capacity of ships entering or leaving harbors. As the Constitution’s words indicate, it was a species in a larger class […]
Article V Opponents Now Peddling Article 23 Years Out of Date
The latest tactic in Article V opponents’ game of “Whac-A-Mole”* is the circulation of an article 23 years out of date. The article was published in 1992 and is entitled A New Constitutional Convention? Critical Look at Questions Answered, and Not Answered, by Article Five of the United States Constitution. It was authored by John […]
Update on Article V and the Necessary and Proper Clause
Some people have asked for further clarification on why the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause does not grant Congress power to use its convention call to regulate a Convention for Proposing Amendments. This is a technical area and can be difficult to grasp (or explain, for that matter). You have to understand the nature of […]
Is Obama Violating the “Take Care” Clause?
The Constitution requires the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This “take Care” language came from 18th century commissions and formal instructions by which higher officials delineated what lower officials were to do. The premier examples were royal instructions to colonial governors, but the Continental and Confederation Congresses used the same […]
Resisting Federal Usurpation: Comments by Theophilus Parsons
Several years ago, I wrote on this site about the contributions to the American Founding of Josiah Quincy. Another little-known Founder who should be more widely celebrated today was Theophilus Parsons. Parsons was from the same Massachusetts circle that produced Quincy. He was an an outstanding lawyer and an eloquent spokesman for republican government and […]
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More Evidence An Article V Convention is a “Convention of the States”
Earlier this year, I documented one of the reasons we know an Article V convention is a “convention of the states” rather than a mass popular gathering: Founding Era documents tell us so. I listed several such documents. (Subsequent to the Founding, in the case of Smith v. Union Bank, the Supreme Court also referred […]
More Evidence From Last Term That It’s Not a “Conservative Supreme Court”
Note: This article was first published at cns news. There is a common media myth that the current U.S. Supreme Court, or at least a majority of the current justices, is “conservative.” But if a “conservative” justice is one who consistently interprets the Constitution in accordance with traditional methods of judging—as the Founders intended for […]
