We have all heard people proudly proclaim that the Constitution is a living, breathing document and needs to be “tweaked”. This could not be further from the truth. “The most numerous objects of legislation belong to the States. Those of the National Legislature [are] but few.”(Rufus King from The Records of the Federal Convention of…
In a recent Washington Post/Volokh Conspiracy Blog, NSA apologist Orin Kerr argues that the proposed Missouri ballot measure to protect electronic data won't really do anything.
First, congratulations to co-blogger Mike Rappaport for having two of his articles cited multiple times in yesterday’s recess appointments decision, NLRB v. Noel Canning. Second, my quick takeaway is that the case is a win for originalism. True, the majority opinion (Breyer, writing for Kennedy, Ginsburg, Sotomayor and Kagan) is an ugly bit of non-originalism. But…
In August, Missouri voters will have an opportunity to “obligate” the state to defend their right to keep and bear arms against all infringements. Senate Joint Resolution 36 (SJR36) is a proposal for a State Constitutional amendment that will be listed as Amendment 5 on the ballot during the upcoming Aug. 5 primary election. The…
As the number of troop-heavy foreign interventions decreases, the warcraft and weaponry used in battle are now being deployed in neighborhoods as members and machines of law enforcement become increasingly indistinguishable from those of the military. This is the situation as revealed in a new report published by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) entitled…
The Supremes spoke this morning, and conservatives cheered. But, today is not a day to celebrate. In a “limited ruling,” the Supreme Court held that for-profit companies can claim a religious exemption to providing Obamacare mandated contraceptive coverage. Conservatives lauded the 5-4 decision as a victory. Rep. John Boehner took to Twitter proclaim a great…
I recently noticed another nullification happening in the great Centennial State, and I think it provides a valuable lesson for all of us – deal with things in our own house! The Colorado effort I’m talking about is an effort by the sheriffs against the state government of Colorado. Normally, we don’t focus on efforts…
Last week, in a surprisingly clear opinion, the Supreme Court limited federal power and took the side of the Constitution over an agency’s regulatory program. “At the bottom of the Supreme Court’s decision today tossing out, in large part, the Obama Administration’s greenhouse gas emissions scheme is a stiff dose of constitutional common sense,” Andrew…
Last night, I spoke on a really cool anti-surveillance panel with people from Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), ACLU of Southern California and Stop LAPD Spying Coalition. It was hosted by Restore The Fourth Los Angeles. I love speaking at events with Hamid Kahn of StopLAPDSpying. Where I’m usually considered the radical, Hamid keeps me in…
Working long hours for something that I love, I get more media coverage wearing my pajamas - sitting on the floor of my apartment - in one day...than most "PR Professionals" can get in a year.