The Study Corner
The supreme Court Kicks Small Business in the Shins Again!
By now you’ve probably heard about the supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. and how states can now collect sales tax from businesses outside their border. After reading the court’s opinion, I wanted to take some time to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly I found inside.
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NIFLA, ET AL. v. BECERRA, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CALIFORNIA
This free speech case revolved around a California law and the question: Under what circumstances could state governments require certain types of speech from private entities? The FACT Act requires clinics that primarily serve pregnant women to provide certain notices. Clinics that are licensed must notify women that California provides free or low-cost services, including abortions, and give…
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Carpenter v. United States
I frequently say it is important that the text of a document should drive our understanding of it, not the other way around. This case regarding the need for a warrant to collect cell-site location information (CSLI) for an individual under investigation challenged my assumptions about the Fourth Amendment. While the opinion that the release of…
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Senate Non-Binding Resolution for Greater Role in Tariffs
Granted, this site and much of the work that I do, has come about due to America’s general ignorance about our Constitution. However, sometimes the level of ignorance, especially from those who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution, just takes my breath away!
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Do We Have Three Co-Equal Branches of Government?
I hear it all the time, usually when someone is talking about separation of powers in the federal government: They say we have “three co-equal branches of government”. It’s heard so often that no one even questions the statement. This may be news for you, but while we do have three branches of government, they…
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Is A New Civil War Coming?
First I want to thank Steve C. for asking the question and sending me a link to a Rasmussen report that finds that 31% think a U.S. civil war is likely in the next five years. While this isn’t a constitutional question, I think it’s important to consider. At almost every session of my previous…
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Contract? What Contract?
Article I, Section 10, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution includes the “Contracts Clause”, which protects the integrity of contracts from state intrusion: No State shall … pass any … ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 10, Paragraph 1
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Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
There has been a significant amount of rhetoric, even hyperbole, about this decision. As is my custom, I decided to wait, listen to multiple people’s opinions, and <gasp> read the syllabus of decision for myself. What I often find is that when you weed through all the noise and look at what was actually written,…
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