The Study Corner
The American Legion v. American Humanist Association
There’s a “cross case” that heard oral arguments before the Supreme Court and I thought it would be a good time to look at an establishment clause case. The case in question is The American Legion v. American Humanist Association, which involves a challenge to the Bladensburg Peace Cross in Bladensburg, MD. This memorial apparently…
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Timbs v. Indiana Opinion
I discussed the case of Timbs v. Indiana in my article Incorporation Insanity. Well, the court has released its opinion, so I wanted to follow up with you here.
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H.R.8: Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019
A lot has been written and said about this particular piece of legislation. After spending a little bit of time in the actual language I found not a “background check bill” or even a “gun control/safety bill”. No, this legislation really is a “control bill for people we don’t like”. So let’s go through the…
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043 – What is Freedom of the Press
In this episode, we’ll explore the freedom of the press. We’ll define what it means and what it should mean in the 21st century. What is Freedom of the Press?
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Double Jeopardy and State and Federal Prosecutions
While doing some research, I came across the oral argument for a supreme Court case called Gamble v. United States. It asked the question: If someone is prosecuted for the same crime in both state and federal courts, does that violate the Fifth Amendment’s protection against double jeopardy? While reading the opinion, I went through…
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The Truth Behind Marbury v. Madison
We’ve all been taught that the supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison established the principal of judicial review. Marshall established the principle of judicial review, i.e., the power to declare a law unconstitutional. Oyez review of Marbury v. Madison Imagine my surprise when I read it and found out that wasn’t what Marshall wrote in the…
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The First Amendment and the Supremacy Clause
I’ve received several questions about the scope of the Bill of Rights, often around ideas that can be summed up in the Incorporation Doctrine. Since here at The Constitution Study we like to take a deep look at the actual language, it’s worth looking at how the First Amendment is different from the others.
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The Constitutionality of National Emergencies
Going all the way back to at least Abraham Lincoln, Presidents have claimed special powers to deal with emergencies. The questions we have here at The Constitution Study are who, if anyone, has the authority to enact these emergency powers and under what situations can they do so?
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