Stossel: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
What we should celebrate on Independence Day.
Constitution
Kennedy's Departure Probably Will Give Us a Court More Inclined to Defend Gun Rights
The retiring justice seems to have been a crucial obstacle to hearing Second Amendment cases.
Has the U.S. Constitution Lost Its Meaning? A Debate
Law professors Randy Barnett and Michael Dorf argued over "originalism" at an event hosted by the Soho Forum.
Telling Trump to Stop Blocking Critics on Twitter Doesn't Affect the Platform's Rules
The First Amendment constrains speech regulation by the government, not by private parties.
New York's Solicitor General Wants to Close the 'Double Jeopardy Loophole' So She Can Punish Pardoned Trump Cronies
Barbara Underwood is outraged by the president's use of his clemency power, and she wants state legislators to do something about it.
10 Years After Heller, Does 'Normalizing' the Second Amendment Mean Ignoring It?
The Supreme Court has been almost completely silent on the subject of gun rights, leaving important issues unresolved.
Lifetime GPS Tracking Is Not Punishment, Says Wisconsin Supreme Court
The court relies on a debunked recidivism estimate to justify tagging and surveillance of sex offenders.
Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Justifications for Originalism
Some originalists believe that following the original meaning of the Constitution is intrinsically valuable, while others support it only for instrumental reasons. The difference between the two approaches has important implications.
Congress Stands With the Blue, Against the Constitution
The lopsided House vote for treating assaults on cops as federal crimes is a bipartisan portrait in cowardice.
Interview with Judge Jeffrey Sutton About his New Book "51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law" - Part II
Part II of my interview with Judge Jeffrey Sutton about his new book state constitutional law.
High School Principal Apologizes for Prom Tickets That Say 'Party Like It's 1776'
"It was insensitive and irresponsible not to appreciate that not all communities can celebrate what life was like in 1776."
Interview with Judge Jeffrey Sutton About his New Book "51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law" - Part I
The first part of my interview with Judge Sutton about his important new book on state constitutions.
SCOTUS Feigns Federalism in Sports Betting Decision
Congress can't "commandeer" state legislators, but it can achieve the same result with "preemption."
The Case for Abolishing the Requirement that the President Must be a "Natural Born" Citizen
I am reposting my 2016 post on this subject, on the occasion of Kevin Walsh's guest-blogging stint addressing the same issue.
My New Article on "Foot Voting, Decentralization, and Development"
This forthcoming article discusses how we can massively expand economic opportunity by making it easier for people to "vote with their feet," both domestically and through international migration.
Law Prohibiting 'Revenge Porn' Violates First Amendment, Says Texas Appeals Court
The state law targeted people who share erotic photographs of others without their consent.
Forget Robert Mueller. Trump's Attacks On Syria Are a Reminder We're Already in a Constitutional Crisis
Congress has completely abdicated its constitutional responsibility to authorize war.
The Real Constitutional Crisis Is Congress' Unwillingness to Do Its Job: Podcast
From Syria to spending, the legislative branch has lost all interest in performing its basic constitutional functions.
A Civil Rights Movement for Corporations? Inside the 400-Year Struggle
UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler on his new book We the Corporations
Originalism, Living Constitutionalism, and the Power to Initiate War
You don't have to be an originalist to conclude that the Constitution requires congressional authorization for war.
Writing Sex Offender Laws Based on Fake Recidivism Numbers Is Rational, Court Says
The Illinois Supreme Court unanimously upholds a law banning sex offenders from public parks.
Court to Cops: Shoot First and Think Later
SCOTUS encourages excessive force by shielding police from liability.
Is it Unconstitutional for States to "Discriminate" Against the Federal Government?
This is one of the questions that may well arise in Jeff Sessions' new lawsuit against California's sanctuary laws.
Supreme Court Sets the Stage for a More Important Immigrant Detention Fight
Indefinite detention carried the day in Jennings v. Rodriguez, but the ruling affirms an important principle that may eventually kill the practice.
Thoughts on the New Constitutional Case Against Obamacare
20 states are right to claim that the mandate is now unconstitutional, but wrong to argue that this requires invalidating the entire Affordable Care Act.
Supreme Court's Silence Clouds Gun Control Debate
The justices have passed up one opportunity after another to clarify the boundaries of the constitutional right to arms.
More Perfect Season 2: Advocacy Masquerading as Explanation
Libertarians should listen to the second season of NPR's legal podcast. But maybe get a pillow to scream into first.
Ban on Guns Near Parks Violates the Second Amendment, Illinois Supreme Court Says
The state's 1,000-foot rule made accidental felons out of people carrying firearms for self-defense.
Felons Who Want Their Voting Rights Back Are Getting Unconstitutionally Screwed, Says Judge
The state uses a panel of partisan officials with absolute discretion to determine who gets to vote again
When the Constitution Was 'At War With Itself,' Frederick Douglass Fought on the Side of Freedom
A new appreciation of the great abolitionist on the 200th anniversary of his birth.
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
CFPB Is Constitutional, Court Rules, in Victory for Unaccountable Bureaucrats Everywhere
The D.C. Circuit says the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is OK.
Why Are Previously-Convicted Felons Denied the Right to Vote?
Florida voters are set to consider deleting a provision in the Florida Constitution depriving convicted felons of the right to vote. It's about time.
Yes, the Positive Law Model of the Fourth Amendment is Originalist
Orin asked me to correct the record; I'm correcting it.
University of Chicago Law Review Special Issue on Justice Scalia
Featuring the Solicitor General of the United States, Judge Amy Barrett, many others, and ... me.
Book recommendations from me and my colleagues
Time travel and originalism (not in the same book!)
Trump's Executive Order on Sanctuary Cities Flunks the Constitutional Test
Why the Trump administration lost in federal court.
Hillbilly Hotties Win First Round in Bikini-Barista Battle
"Bikinis can convey the very type of political speech that lies at the core of the First Amendment," writes federal judge.
Prohibited Pony Protest at Clinton Event Spurs Vermin Supreme Speech Suit
"No pony has ever attacked an American politician," the lawsuit notes.
The Senate Democrats' Pathetic Attack on Justice Don Willett
The 5th Circuit nominee faces the Senate Judiciary Committee.
No, The Electoral College Isn't Rigged to Favor Rural Trumpism
It's time to put the myth of electoral bias out of its misery.
Does the Commerce Clause Empower Congress to Regulate Every Living Thing?
A potential Supreme Court case challenges federal protection of an intrastate species with no commercial value.
Constitutional Conservatives for Defrocked Judges
Ted Cruz joins Rand Paul and Mike Lee in enthusiastically endorsing lawless jurist Roy Moore.
Federal Court Ponders Constitutionality of Prostitution Ban
A right to engage in prostitution seems like "a natural extension of Supreme Court precedent," says judge.
Trump Calls the Congressional GOP's Bluff
From Iran to Obamacare to DACA, the president is acting on what Republicans have long promised, in a way that rightly devolves power to the legislative branch.
'Administrative State Is THE Leading Threat to Civil Liberties of Our Era.'
Columbia's Philip Hamburger says this "monarchical" system of government grew in power just as blacks and women saw an expansion of their voting rights.
Supreme Court Considers: Can Cops Arrest You for Going to a Party Where You Don't Know the Host?
The case has already produced some fun SCOTUS banter. It could have major consequences for due process and police accountability.
Do Abortion Rules Violate Satanists' Religious Freedom? Missouri Supreme Court to Decide
The rules' purpose is to "indoctrinate pregnant women into the belief held by some...Christians that a separate and unique human being begins at conception" said appeals court.
