Why removing historical monuments is a bad idea
[B]ecause almost everyone conforms in most respects to prevailing social practices, disqualification for such conduct is necessarily arbitrary and driven more by politics than by merit.
State protection for citizen rights should temper ‘local control’
So when is local control good in reality rather than merely as a slogan?
A Response to a “Living Constitutionalist”
. . . law professors often corrupt their understanding of the Constitution with their own political preferences. . .
How a ‘convention of states’ could tweak the Constitution
Representatives of state legislatures from across the nation will converge in Phoenix, Arizona on Sept. 12 to participate in a traditional American institution called a “convention of states.” Conventions of states are valuable. They help ensure Washington, DC doesn’t dictate all decisions on every subject. The purpose of the meeting in Phoenix is to plan […]
Part II: What Can We Do About Legal Realism and Its Promotion of Judicial Activism?
. . . the problem centers in specific institutions: American law schools and the higher reaches of the judiciary.
Part I: Judicial activism: Here’s a core reason for it you’ve never heard about
The Founders erected the American legal system to operate in the context of Anglo-American judicial values. The rules placed expressly or implicitly in the Constitution . . . were designed to operate in that context. However, the context changed.
Drafting a Balanced Budget Amendment: It’s tougher than you might think
Of course, it is one thing to criticize, but another to try to craft something better.
If you want to win a Supreme Court case, it helps to play to “progressive” values
Observe how many of the Left’s ideological buttons the plaintiff’s lawyers pushed: non-profit, recycling, mandatory government fee, poverty, disabilities, environment—and that interminably-overused mantra: community.
The last convention of states ever held? It Centered on the Upper Colorado River
“This latest convention of states operated according to standard convention of states protocols.”
Supreme Court’s Ruling Against the PC Police
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 […]
The Define and Punish Clause doesn’t authorize vast federal power either
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 […]
Fake News: How Leading Liberal Newspapers Spread the “Runaway Convention” Story
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 […]
