Video Podcasts
335 – Why Don’t We Celebrate Constitution Day?
Most Americans celebrate the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, but very few celebrate the signing of the Constitution of the United States? Why is that? Sure, we celebrate Independence Day with cookouts and fireworks, but there’s nothing preventing us from celebrating Constitution Day the same way? Could it be that this union of states, like an old married couple, has become complacent and bored? Come with me while I examine this phenomenon in preparation for my own celebration of Constitution Day.
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334 – Defending Your Right Against Unreasonable Searches
When a government agent stands at your door asking to come in, do you know what your rights are? What would you do if that agent tries to enter your house illegally? If that day comes, the difference between liberty and incarceration may well depend on how well you know your rights and how prepared you are to assert and defend them.
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333 – The Role of the Federal Judiciary
In Federalist Papers #78, Alexander Hamilton said that the the federal judiciary would be the branch of government least dangerous to our rights. But is that how the courts are working in the 21st century? What makes the courts today so injurious to our rights? We get a clue from current Associate Justice Elena Kagan in a speech she gave at a judicial conference in Montana this July. By comparing her statements to the Constitution and the writings of those who helped frame it, we should not only be able to answer what makes the court dangerous to our rights, but how to protect our rights from them.
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332 – Understanding Dual Sovereignty Doctrine
Most of us are aware of Double Jeopardy, the right to not be tried for the same crime twice. But the courts have adopted a “dual sovereign” doctrine to get around this pesky little problem. Two Supreme Court cases out of Oklahoma show the problems with the court making up the rules as they go along, and how this concept of dual sovereignty violate both your rights and the Constitution of the United States.
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331 – Can Congress Create Term Limits for the Supreme Court?
After years of trying to pack the Supreme Court, there’s a new attempt to take control of the third branch of government. Rather than placing extra justices on the court, (all of which would be appointed by the current President), they want to set term limits for, and a complicated method of appointing justices. But is any of this constitutional? How will Congress and the courts react to this of power? Will the American people meekly sit back and watch while the Constitution is once again set aside by Congress for political ends? What would happen to America if this legislation is allowed to see the light of day?
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330 – Maine’s Tuition Assistance
When parents saw what their children were being taught during the COVID-19 school shutdowns, school choice has been a topic of interest lately. If government schools were going to substitute political theory for reading, writing, and arithmetic, parents wanted another choice. Most people cannot afford private schools, and others cannot dedicate the time to home schooling. Since the people pay for these government schools through their taxes, shouldn’t they be able to use that money for better options?
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329 – Limits on Freedom of Speech
Most of us have heard of the case where the Supreme Court placed limits of freedom of speech. However most people don’t know the name of the case and frequently misquote it. A recent case out of Kansas once again brings into question the government’s ability to criminalize certain types of speech. From the Schneck case in 1919 to the Hernandez-Calvillo case in 2022, when the government tries to make speech it doesn’t like criminal, We the People must stand up to the tyranny.
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328 – Turning a Lemon into Lemonade
A high-school coach was denied his freedom of religion and speech based on a more than 50 year old lemon of a court opinion. In the case Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court claimed that your right to freely speak and exercise your religion must yield to the government’s “interest” in avoiding violating the establishment clause. But the “Lemon Test” puts the government’s interest above your rights protected by the Constitution. In this years case Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the court took this Lemon and turned it into lemonade.
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