Author: Paul Engel
Like many of you, I am a product of the public schools. Like many of you I thought the Constitution was for lawyers and judges. One day I read the Constitution, and was surprised to find I didn't need a law degree to understand it. Then I read the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and even the Anti-Federalist Papers. As I learned more and more about our founding fathers and documents I saw how little we know about how our country was designed to work and how many people just didn't care. I started The Constitution Study to help those who also want read and study our Constitution.
505 – Unreasonable Searches
When a government agency searches without a reason it’s called “fishing”. When the Attorney General of New Jersey issued a subpoena demanding the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the donors to a pregnancy center, it wasn’t just fishing, it was searching for a white whale.
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503 – Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity
Concealed carry reciprocity is frequently a hot-button issue both in the Second Amendment community and those who oppose it. Once again Congress is attempting to resolve the issue via legislation, and The National Fraternal Order of Police is opposing it. Let’s look at both sides of this story.
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502 – Presidential Tariffs
Love them or hate them, President Trump’s tariffs have not only been a talking point, but have had an impact on most Americans. The question before SCOTUS in this case is whether or not the President has the power to create these tariffs in the first place.
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501 – Medical freedom or government overreach?
In response to the COVID-19 vaccine mandates, several states passed legislation to put a halt to such practices. For example Idaho recently passed the Medical Freedom Act. The question is, does this legislation protect medical freedom or is it just another example of government overreach.
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500 – Free Speech or Free Beer
When I hear people talk about freedom, there seems to be two different general ideas: freedom from something and freedom to do something. It reminds me of my days in Information Technology, when people described “free” open source software as “Free speech, not free beer!” When we talk about freedom today, are we talking about…
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499 – Warrantless Searches
We all know that, in general, the police need a warrant to enter your home. While the Fourth Amendment lays out the requirements for a warrant, there are exceptions to the warrant requirements. That’s because the Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches, not warrantless searches. The case Case v. Montana is about what makes police entry into a private home reasonable.
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498 – Colorado Conversion Therapy Oral Arguments
Who decides what treatment is best for your child? Most people expect the government to protect children from dangerous treatments, even if their parents want it. But shouldn’t the government need to prove harm beyond a reasonable doubt before criminalizing treatment? Sadly, that is not the question before the court in the case Chiles v. Salazar. Rather, it is a twisted attempt to use the First Amendment to strike down this Colorado law.
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497 – Decision on Mexico’s Gun Suit
Back in June I wrote about the oral arguments in Mexico’s law suit against American gun manufacturers and distributors. While the court overall came to the expected decision, I think it’s still worth some time digging into the logic and reasoning of the justices.
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