The Constitution Doesn’t Create Rights
I heard an interesting conversation on a radio show the other day. The host was talking about NSA spying, and the discussion turned to recent revelations that the agency listened ...
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The Rise of the Culture of Originalism
Constitutional theorists succeed practically only when they change the legal culture. Jack Balkin has remarked that some legal arguments that were once off the wall can become “on the wall,” ...
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Restoring Judicial Impeachment
In March 1804, the House of Representatives did something for the first and, sadly, last time: It impeached a justice of the Supreme Court for abusing the office of a ...
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The Preamble to the Constitution: What It Tells Us and What It Doesn’t
For many Americans, knowledge of the Constitution begins and ends with the preamble. A lot of people probably even memorized it at some point in school. I suppose you could ...
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Today in History: Patrick Henry’s “Give me Liberty” Speech
On March 23, 1775, tensions in Virginia were at their highest point during the imperial crisis with Britain. The House of Burgesses, the state’s elected assembly, was about to make ...
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The Problem with the “Simple Principle” of Liberty
I cannot compete with Michael Munger, Nathan Schlueter, or Nikolai Wenzel in citing the authorities of libertarian and classical liberal thought. Being more a lumper than a splitter, I would ...
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We the Bureaucrats
Every year, the Harvard Law Review invites a well known scholar to write the Foreword, which generally involves an important matter of constitutional law. Writing the Foreword is one of ...
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An Empirical Liberty Framework for Debating Gun Control
Those in favor of gun control repeatedly proclaim that something must be done to stop gun violence, to include repealing the Second Amendment. At the same time, those who defend ...
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Constitution 101: The Judiciary and Judicial Review
The federal judiciary has arguably become the most powerful branch of the general government. Opinions issued by nine politically connected lawyers have redefined marriage throughout the entire United States, authorized ...
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