Last week, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance (PDF). Judge Carlos Bea, the author of the majority opinion, finely exhibited what it means to be a constitutionalist judge. His opinion considered the words “under God” not in isolation, but within their proper …
President Obama has received criticism from yet another Supreme Court justice concerning his inappropriate and unprecedented chastisement of the Court during the State of the Union address. Obama criticized the Court’s recent campaign finance opinion while six of the justices sat before him, obviously unable to respond to the criticism …
The false alarm concerning the possible resignation of Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. sent shockwaves throughout the blogosphere and media outlets yesterday afternoon. Those of us who respect the Chief’s service to our country and fidelity to the Constitution were relieved when the rumors were false. But this fire drill …
This morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in McDonald v. Chicago, a landmark case addressing whether states can deny the rights of their citizens to keep and bear arms. This question was left open by the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking yet common sense decision in Heller v. District of …
The American Founders recognized that federalism is essential to maintaining individual liberty in the United States. The Constitution therefore grants the federal government only certain limited powers which were specifically enumerated in the document, and thus requires the different sovereigns (state and federal) to compete for the affection of the …
The New York Times highlighted a speech that Justice Clarence Thomas delivered at a Florida law school in which he defended the Supreme Court’s recent campaign finance decision in Citizens United v. FEC. In that speech, Thomas also addressed why he chose to forgo the president’s state of the union …
Today, the Senate may vote to limit debate on the nomination of Judge David Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, a significant federal court which covers Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, and whose opinions are more often than not the final word in cases. By limiting debate, Senators will …
