Author Archive | Randy Barnett

William Howell, the Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and I have an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal making the case for a constitutional amendment giving 2/3 of state legislatures the power to repeal any federal law or regulation. Here is the wording of the Repeal Amendment: “Any provision of law or regulation […]

The business section of today’s Wall Street Journal features a lengthy profile of GMU economics professor Peter Boettke. It also describes the resurgent interest in Austrian economics. Entitled Spreading Hayek, Spurning Keynes–Professor Leads an Austrian Revival, it begins this way: Peter J. Boettke, shuffling around in a maroon velour track suit or faux-leather rubber shoes […]

Given that law school classes have or are about to start for many readers, I thought I would post a quick link to a new book of mine on contract law. It is written to provide an overview or “big picture” of contracts that discusses as many of the classic cases you are likely to […]

Here is a nice explanation of how the commerce power has been expanded over the years, which features John Eastman, Erwin Chemerinsky . . . and E.G. Marshall! I might quibble a little with how Wickard and Raich are interpreted here, but on the whole I found this to be nice way to explain to […]

Over on Concurring Opinions, Gerard Magliocca is bothered by my persistent claim that the health insurance mandate is “unprecedented”: Folks like Randy Barnett rely heavily on the idea that congressional regulation of inactivity (or commercial coercion) is unprecedented under the Commerce and Taxing Clauses. But isn’t it is equally unprecedented to establish a “private action” […]

Essentially, from day one, politicos like Nancy Pelosi and numerous law professors have been saying about the constitutional challenge to the individual mandate: “Nothing to see here folks, move along.” Today Judge Henry Hudson ruled, “there is something to see here folks, let’s stop and evaluate carefully.” That is a big step. Since before the […]

On Wednesday afternoon, I had a scrumptuous lunch at Grifone in New York City with James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal as he interviewed me for Saturday’s regular “Weekend Interview.” The interview, entitled, “A Commandeering of the People,” is now posted (with a link that I believe is available without subscription). The conversation lasted […]

Marcus Cole reflects movingly on McDonald v City of Chicago in A Word of Thanks to Four Black Men and A Gun. As an American, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to many, many people who have risked and given their lives to defend our liberty. But as I reflect on the recent Supreme […]

Jack Balkin and I have been friends for a really long time. There is no law professor for whom I have a higher admiration and respect. An important aspect of my thinking about constitutional law began with a brilliant article Jack wrote many years ago called “The Footnote,” which I read before we ever met. […]

For my money, Glenn Reynolds is one of the most interesting thinkers of my generation and today’s Internet age. In Germany last week, Instapundit was #1 on my relatively short list of websites that European students should check regularly to escape the cocoon of their media–which uniformly echoes the conventional wisdom of the New York […]

Remember when the Commerce Clause challenge to the individual insurance mandate was dismissed by all serious and knowledgeable constitutional law professors and Nancy Pelosi as “frivolous”? Well, as Jonathan notes below, the administration is now apparently telling the New York Times that the individual insurance “requirement” and “penalty” is really an exercise of the Tax […]

In a recently published book, Nullification, author Tom Woods maintains that states have a power to nullify laws that exceed the powers of Congress to enact. This claim has a long history, some of it distinguished–as in the case of Wisconsin’s resistance to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850–some of it not. But is the […]

Jack Balkin explains the startling news: On Monday, June 28, 2010, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, the Supreme Court inadvertently held that Congress had already applied the entire Bill of Rights to the states through the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Court held that the Civil Rights Act was intended to protect substantive […]

Timothy Sandefur has a moving discussion of Frederick Douglass, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the McDonald case over on PLF Liberty Blog. I wish I could just post the whole thing here, but you should really click over. Here is how it opens: In December of 1872, Frederick Douglass, civil rights leader and former slave, published […]

At Reason.com, Damon Root situates the judicial activism debate in the context of conservatism and libertarianism in this lengthy and thoughtful piece that is well worth reading in its entirety. Here is a taste: “Judicial review is doubtless the main issue that separates conservative and libertarian jurisprudes,” says Roger Pilon, an influential legal thinker who […]