Constitution

Missouri Senate Candidate Will Only Discuss Issues Highlighted In The Constitution

The Huffington Post | Lucia Graves | Posted 05.25.2012

Missouri Senate candidate John Brunner wants to change how things are done in Washington. Namely, he will only meet to talk about issues highlighted i...

Constitution Check: Must Gay Marriage Be a Fundamental Right in Order to Exist?

Lyle Denniston | Posted 05.25.2012

Lyle Denniston

If a right gains "fundamental" status, it would, indeed, sweep all across the nation, nullifying every contrary law or court case. But the test poses a high hurdle for anyone seeking to establish a new right.

TABOR Migraines

Miller Hudson | Posted 05.24.2012

Miller Hudson

TABOR, which includes provisions that are rapidly closing a vise on state spending, will soon undermine the quality of services provided to taxpayers.

Laughable Online Censorship Attempt Won't Last a New York Minute

Chris Weigant | Posted 05.23.2012

Chris Weigant

Republicans in the New York state government are attempting to pass a law that would ban anonymous comments online. Even if they actually passed the act, once it arrived in a federal court it would be tossed out in a "New York minute" (as they say).

Evangelicals and the Wrong Side of History

Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou | Posted 05.20.2012

Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou

As pundits and politicians have courted conservative evangelical leaders, they have forgotten that evangelicals tend to be on the wrong side of history.

Will the Supreme Court Follow the GOP Plan and Force Seniors to Pay $20,000 More for Rx Drugs?

Ethan Rome | Posted 05.09.2012

Ethan Rome

Fidelity Investments, the gigantic Wall Street mutual fund company, says it will cost a retired couple $20,000 more to buy their medicines if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Affordable Care Act.

Denver Court Says Undocumented Immigrants Can't Have Guns

AP | Posted 05.10.2012

DENVER — A federal appeals court says undocumented immigrants don't have a right to own firearms under the U.S. Constitution. Emmanuel Huitron-Gu...

The Constitutionality of the Individual Mandate

Richard Leffler | Posted 05.07.2012

Richard Leffler

The briefs and oral arguments before the Supreme Court regarding the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act would have benefited from close attention to two opinions by Chief Justice John Marshall, which are referred to only in snippets.

Even Terrorists Deserve to Be Sentenced

Jonathan Hafetz | Posted 05.03.2012

Jonathan Hafetz

Most of the 169 remaining Guantanamo detainees will never be charged in court. They will thus never be given what those accused of the most serious terrorist offenses receive: the opportunity to be tried and sentenced if found guilty.

The Tea Party vs. the Constitution: ObamaCare Edition

Doug Kendall | Posted 05.01.2012

Doug Kendall

2012-05-01-teaparty.JPGThere is an enormous gap between tea party activists' fervor about the Constitution and what is actually in our Nation's founding charter.

The Sources of American Political Dysfunction

Thomas E. Mann | Posted 04.30.2012

Thomas E. Mann

In never-ending efforts to defeat incumbent officeholders in hard times, the public is perpetuating the source of its discontent, electing a new group of people who are even less inclined to or capable of crafting compromise or solutions to pressing problems.

Civic Illiteracy: A Threat to the American Dream

Michael Ford | Posted 04.30.2012

Michael Ford

The effects of civic illiteracy take their toll over time, and while Americans are almost defiantly indifferent about their lack of civic understanding, the consequences to our basic rights and freedoms and the general health of our republic could be dire.

Arizona's "Show Me Your Papers" Law Gets Its Day in Court -- and Congress

Elizabeth B. Wydra | Posted 04.24.2012

Elizabeth B. Wydra

The Supreme Court shouldn't buy S.B. 1070 supporters' claims when it hears arguments tomorrow. The Constitution doesn't allow states to set immigration and foreign policy, and it certainly doesn't allow them to do so in a manner that discriminates against people of color.

Law-enforcement Leaders Agree: State Anti-immigrant Laws Encourage Discrimination

Ali Noorani | Posted 04.24.2012

Ali Noorani

At its heart, America is an idea, not an ideology. And the idea that all men (and women) are created equal is unique to America. Once we allow law enforcement to ask someone for identification because they look less equal, the idea of America weakens.

Romney v. Obama!

Susie Sampson | Posted 04.24.2012

Susie Sampson

With Mitt Romney as the GOP candidate, I wanted to see how other Americans feel about this race. It seems the Constitution is a take-it-or-leave-it sort of thing these days... who needs to actually read it, right?

Is Social Security Unconstitutional?

Terry Newell | Posted 04.23.2012

Terry Newell

If the Supreme Court holds that the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which requires every American adult to purchase health insurance or pay a fine, is unconstitutional, why could not Social Security be next?

On Anti-immigration Laws and the Supreme Court

Leo Pierson | Posted 04.23.2012

Leo Pierson

The American sociologist, Erving Goffman, famously wrote, "By definition...we believe the person with a stigma is not quite human. On this assumption we exercise varieties of discrimination."p

Supreme Damage: Why the Court Can't Throw Out Obamacare

Ethan Rome | Posted 04.20.2012

Ethan Rome

The fact is that serious wreckage would result from a bad decision. Attempting to unscramble this omelet would be a national nightmare.

Count Me: An Ode to Liberty

Robin Koerner | Posted 04.18.2012

Robin Koerner

Left and Right and Right and Left / Have left America bereft / Of liberty, its founding light. / Christians, Liberals speak of peace / Until they hold the nation's leash, / And send its youth to fight.

Constitution Is Clearly a Living Document

Byron Williams | Posted 04.16.2012

Byron Williams

The Constitution must be a living document if it is to represent those living today. The flaw in its inception would be its original intent excluded so many people.

Regarding Iran, America Must Look to the Constitution

Jonathan Granoff | Posted 04.13.2012

Jonathan Granoff

Nothing can so erode confidence in the proper use of power by the strongest nation in the world than failure to adhere to the rules that we have agreed should be binding.

When Is Judicial Activism Appropriate?

Geoffrey R. Stone | Posted 04.13.2012

Geoffrey R. Stone

The Affordable Care Act case is a perfect case for judicial restraint. If the states that brought the suit want to change the law, they can do it through the political process. That is the point of democracy. They do not need the justices of the Supreme Court to do the job for them.

Selecting Facts Regarding the Supreme Court

Howard Steven Friedman | Posted 04.06.2012

Howard Steven Friedman

The Constitution does not explicitly state that the Supreme Court has the right to review laws and declare them constitutional or not. In fact, the Supreme Court gave themselves this power in Marbury v. Madison.

Strip-Searching America: Florence v. County of Burlington

John W. Whitehead | Posted 04.04.2012

John W. Whitehead

In an age when the courts show greater deference to bureaucracy than democracy, making life easier for harried jailers trumps the Constitution. Consequently, any person who is arrested can now be subjected to a degrading strip search.

Getting Clear About Voting Independent

Mitchell J. Rabin | Posted 04.03.2012

Mitchell J. Rabin

What matters is having a leader, not a politician, assume political office. And so I suggest that people look to break out of the two-party trance and take on a pro-active role in taking your government back to serve You, your family, your friends, your community.