Video Podcasts
337 – Is It Prideful to Force Others to Comply With Your Desires?
None of us want to be judged by our race, sex, or how we live our lives. But what right do we have to impose our views on others, even to the point of controlling their private property. That is the question in a complaint against Yeshiva University. Does the City of New York have the legal authority to make a private university recognize a student group? Can the state order a religious school to violate its core beliefs to accommodate the wishes of a student? If we wish to live at liberty, doesn’t that mean we have to allow others to enjoy their own liberty, even if we disagree with it?
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336 – Insuring Religious Freedom
“By hook or by crook”, that seems to be the sentiment of some who promote abortion in this country. When they could not get their way by federal law, they engaged the federal judiciary. When the judiciary abandoned them, they went back to using state law to get their way. And when state law didn’t get them all they wanted, they used regulation to “back door” themselves around the law. Such seems to be the case in California.
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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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