How the Founders told us the Constitution would restrict federal power
By: Rob Natelson Everyone who studies the Constitution knows it grants to agencies of the federal government and a few other entities only enumerated (listed) powers. Sometimes, though, it is ...
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Melville’s Thoughts on Liberty
by John E. Alvis It’s the bicentenary of the birth of one of America’s greatest authors, Herman Melville. We ought to celebrate by examining how Melville, in his poetry and ...
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“Law and Order” Conservatives Reject the Rule of Law in Favor of Federal Death Penalty
By: Suzanne Sherman U.S. Attorney General Robert Barr recently ordered the reinstatement of the federal death penalty, ending a 16-year pause in executions at the federal level. The Department of ...
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Unconstitutional? Extra-Constitutional? What’s the difference?
By: Rob Natelson You often hear that an action is “constitutional” or “unconstitutional.” More rarely, you hear the term “extra-constitutional.” Exactly how do these words differ? An action is constitutional if taken ...
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The Plot to Undermine the Electoral College
by Ian Drake In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote for president by just under three million votes. But under the Constitution’s electoral voting system, Clinton ...
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Debunking the “One Nation” Myth: Thoughts from Maharry Head
By: Mike Maharrey Most Americans think July 4, 1776, birthed a “nation.” It didn’t. It actually birthed 13 independent nations that soon formed a union. The notion that Independence Day ...
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On the Omission of the Term “Expressly” from the Tenth Amendment
By: Kurt T. Lash In his recent review of Lawrence Lessig’s new book, “Fidelity and Constraint,” Georgetown law professor John Mikhail takes issue with Lessig’s account of the New Deal. Mikhail rejects ...
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The Great American Experience
by KrisAnne Hall, JD So often I hear from well-intentioned people, "it’s too late to fix what's wrong with our federal government" or "The government is out of control, it’s ...
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The Constitution, the Census and Citizenship
by Judge Andrew Napolitano Late last month, the Supreme Court ruled on a challenge to a question that the Commerce Department announced it would add to the 2020 census. The ...
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Clutching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory: Gundy and the Prohibition on Delegation
By: Michael Rappaport The prohibition on the delegation of legislative power to the executive is one of the key structural features of the Constitution’s original meaning. The prohibition prevents the ...
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