Category: Constitutional Law

Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

“Does the Gentlelady Have a Problem?” : Yes, Delegate Plaskett Most Certainly Has a Problem

“This body and this nation has [sic] a territories and a colonies problem.” Those words from Del. Stacey Plaskett echoed in the House chamber this week as the delegate interrupted the election of the House speaker to demand a vote for herself and the representatives of other non-states. The problem, however, is not with the House but with Plaskett and other members in demanding the violation of Article I of the Constitution. Continue reading ““Does the Gentlelady Have a Problem?” : Yes, Delegate Plaskett Most Certainly Has a Problem” →

Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

MSNBC Contributor: Biden Proved He is the “Standard Bearer” for the Founders By Vetoing the Judges Act

In an age of advocacy journalism, April Ryan has long been a standout. Ryan routinely engaged in diatribes in White House press conferences during the Trump Administration and has openly opposed all things Republican or conservative. Now, the MSNBC contributor and Grio White House correspondent has declared that President Joe Biden was a “standard-bearer for what the Founding Fathers put in place.” The reason? His much-criticized and partisan veto of The Judges Act. While even stalwart Biden allies like Delaware Sen. Chris Coons criticized the President for vetoing the badly needed, bipartisan measure to add new judges, Ryan declared it the work of a modern George Washington. Continue reading “MSNBC Contributor: Biden Proved He is the “Standard Bearer” for the Founders By Vetoing the Judges Act” →

Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

“He has Good Days and Bad Days”: The Journal Exposes the Concerted Effort to Conceal Biden’s Mental Decline

In an explosive exposé, the Wall Street Journal has revealed how the mental decline of President Joe Biden was pronounced from the start of his term. However, cabinet members and other Democrats lied to the public about his declining levels of acuity and engagement. That effort succeeded largely with the help of an alliance with the media, which showed little interest in whether the President was actually running the government.

Continue reading ““He has Good Days and Bad Days”: The Journal Exposes the Concerted Effort to Conceal Biden’s Mental Decline” →

Constitutional Law, Supreme Court

Eminently Overdue: The Supreme Court Considers New York Case That Could Overturn the Infamous Kelo Decision

As an academic and a legal commentator, I have sometimes disagreed with the United States Supreme Court, but I often stress the good-faith differences in how certain rights or protections are interpreted. One case, however, has long stood out for me as wildly off-base and wrongly decided: Kelo v. New London. The case allowed the government to seize property from one private party and then give it to another private party. There is now a petition before the Supreme Court that would allow it to reconsider this pernicious precedent. The Court should grant review in Bowers v. Oneida County Industrial Development Agency precisely for that purpose. Continue reading “Eminently Overdue: The Supreme Court Considers New York Case That Could Overturn the Infamous Kelo Decision” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

President Biden and Others Renew Calls for Gun Control After Wisconsin Shooting

The shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, immediately prompted renewed calls for gun control from President Joe Biden and others. As I have previously written, these calls often appear entirely disconnected from the actual crime or the constitutional protections afforded gun owners, including President Biden demanding a ban on assault weapons after a shooting with a handgun. Continue reading “President Biden and Others Renew Calls for Gun Control After Wisconsin Shooting” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

The Danger of White Knight Pardons: Biden Could Fundamentally Change Presidential Power

Below is my column in the New York Post on the news reports that President Joe Biden is seriously considering preemptive pardons for political allies. In granting what I have called “White Knight pardons,” Biden would achieve more of a political than legal purpose. Democrats are worried about the collapsing narrative that President-elect Donald Trump will destroy democracy,  end future elections, and conduct sweeping arrests of everyone from journalists to homosexuals. That narrative, of course, ignores that we have a constitutional system of overlapping protections that has blocked such abuses for over two centuries. Ironically, preemptive pardons would do precisely what Biden suggests that he is deterring: create a dangerous immunity for presidents and their allies in committing criminal abuses.

Here is the column: Continue reading “The Danger of White Knight Pardons: Biden Could Fundamentally Change Presidential Power” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Media, Politics

Pardon Envy: Democrats Vie to Make the Biden Pardon List

Below is my column in The Hill on the calls for “blanket pardons” for hundreds and even thousands of people. Despite Trump’s ill-considered statement about how the J6 Committee members should go to jail for what they did on NBC this weekend, Trump has also insisted that he wants “success” to be his revenge. Many in the media are also omitting that Trump immediately said “no” to whether he would direct either the Attorney General or the FBI director to indict or investigate. While I have been a vocal critic of the J6 Committee, I know of no crime that could be credibly pursued against the members, as I have written.  More importantly, presidents do not just send people to jail. There will be no round-up of opponents and democracy will survive. We have an entire constitutional system designed to prevent arbitrary prosecutions or authoritarian measures.  These White Knight pardons are meant to preserve a collapsing narrative of how Trump wants to round up his enemies and end democracy. It has resulted in a strange and uniquely Washington phenomenon: pardon envy.

Here is the column:

Continue reading “Pardon Envy: Democrats Vie to Make the Biden Pardon List” →

Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal law

No, the J6 Committee Should Not “Go to Jail”

President-Elect Donald Trump gave President Joe Biden and his critics a major boost this weekend by stating on NBC’s Meet The Press that he believes that the entire J6 Committee “should go to jail.” Despite weeks of saying that he did not plan any campaign of retribution and “success will be my revenge,” Trump undermined those statements with the statement, which the media is now playing up as proof that he is going to unleash a vengeance campaign. Many in the media are also omitting that Trump immediately said “no” to whether he would direct either the Attorney General or the FBI director to indict or investigate.  The fact, however, is that there is no viable criminal case to be made against the J6 Committee members for their investigation or report. We need to move beyond the rage rhetoric if this country is going to come together to face the tough challenges ahead. Continue reading “No, the J6 Committee Should Not “Go to Jail”” →

Constitutional Law, Lawyering, Media, Religion, Supreme Court

Take Two Puberty Blockers and Call Me in the Morning? Justice Sotomayor Under Fire For Aspirin Analogy in Oral Argument

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is under fire today for seemingly dismissing medical concerns over the risks of puberty blockers and gender surgeries for minors with a comparison to taking Aspirin. In the oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, Sotomayor pointed out that there are risks to any medical procedure or drug. However, the analogy belittled the concerns of many parents and groups over the research on the dangers of these treatments. It also highlighted how the Biden Administration and liberal justices were discarding countervailing research inconveniently at odds with their preferred legal conclusion.

Continue reading “Take Two Puberty Blockers and Call Me in the Morning? Justice Sotomayor Under Fire For Aspirin Analogy in Oral Argument” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, International, Media, Politics, Torts

German Interior Minister Outraged by Anti-Free Speech Meme . . . Reportedly Cracks Down on Free Speech

Now, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wants the world to know that she is not, as widely claimed, anti-free speech … so she is allegedly cracking down on free speech until people change their minds. It appears that, while the liberal Scholz government may be near collapse, irony is still thriving in Germany. Continue reading “German Interior Minister Outraged by Anti-Free Speech Meme . . . Reportedly Cracks Down on Free Speech” →

Constitutional Law, Politics, Society

Gallup: Public Support for Gun Bans Craters

According to Gallup’s latest polling, support for a handgun ban has fallen to just 20 percent and support for an “assault weapons” ban has cratered to just 52 percent. Gun bans were a constant call from both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris over the last four years. President Biden often combined the call with dubious factual, legal, and historical arguments. Continue reading “Gallup: Public Support for Gun Bans Craters” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Media, Politics

Panic Politics: The Press and Pundits Face Devastating Polls on the Threat to Democracy

Below is my column in the New York Post on the growing hysteria among press and pundits proclaiming the imminent end of democracy if Kamala Harris is not elected. The predictions of mass roundups, disappearances, and tyranny ignore a constitutional system that has survived for over two centuries as the oldest and most stable democracy in the world. More importantly, the public appears to agree that democracy is under threat but appear to hold a very different notion of where that threat is coming from.

Here is the column:
Continue reading “Panic Politics: The Press and Pundits Face Devastating Polls on the Threat to Democracy” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

The Harvard Debate: Professors Kennedy and Turley Debate Free Speech

Today, I had the pleasure of debating Professor Randall Kennedy on the question “Does Harvard support free speech and intellectual diversity?” I took the opposing view. Various readers asked for a link to the debate, which is included below. Continue reading “The Harvard Debate: Professors Kennedy and Turley Debate Free Speech” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Politics

“No Kidding! No Joke!” Liberals Call on Biden to Commit Unconstitutional Acts in his Final Days
Columns, Constitutional Law, Politics

Kamala’s True Grit: Harris Embraces a Gun Vilified During the Biden-Harris Administration

The reinvention of Vice President Kamala Harris in this election has been a thing to behold. In politics, candidates often reconstruct their records to secure votes, but Harris appears to have constructed an entirely mythical being. Once ranked to the left of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and viewed as among the most liberal members of the Senate, Harris has sought to convince the public that she is actually a frack-loving, gun-toting, border-defending moderate. This last week, Harris sounded like she has hired Neo as her new campaign manager from the Matrix. When asked “what do you need, besides a miracle?” Neo replied “Guns. Lots of Guns.” Continue reading “Kamala’s True Grit: Harris Embraces a Gun Vilified During the Biden-Harris Administration” →