New History of Founding Era Conventions
Very few people know that the Constitutional Convention of 1787 only the last of nearly 20 other conventions in which […]
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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.
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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
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"How could a former con law professor be so ignorant?"
Quite a few people have asked me how President Obama, as a “former constitutional law professor,” could prove so ignorant
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Why an Amendments Convention is not a “Constitutional Convention”
Sometimes a convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution is referred to as a “constitutional convention.” That title is
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The Great Forgetting
The meaning of some of the Constitution’s 18th century terminology was lost during the 19th century, leading to widespread misunderstanding.
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Contraceptives and Catholic hospitals: The primary issue is Obamacare, not the First Amendment
Does the mandate forcing Catholic hospitals to offer abortifacients and contraception violate the First Amendment? The surprising answer is: Probably
Some Questions for “Progressives” Carping about the Citizens United Campaign Finance Case
The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC has generated a great deal of uninformed, and sometimes hypocritical, whining.
The Little-Known—but Seminal—York Town Convention of 1777
The U.S. Constitution authorizes a “convention for proposing amendments” to offer amendments for ratification (or rejection) by the states. The
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More Constitutional Baby Babble—this time at Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair’s sophisticated approach to rescuing a drowning man is this: Lecture him about how we all need plenty of
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The Fascinating Story of How the States Used the Constitution’s Amendment Procedure to Adopt Reform, 1789-1913
Common sense tells us that an out-of-control Congress is not going to rein in its own power. The American Founders
Confused About an Article V Amendments Convention? New Article Provides Answers
As I predicted in this column, Congress’s continued inability to deal effectively with the debt crisis is AGAIN provoking interest
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