Does the federal government have to adhere to the equal protection of the law? President Andrew Jackson certainly thought so. He vetoed in 1832 the recharter of the Second Bank of the United States, and based his veto message on constitutional grounds–among them, that the Bank was special interest legislation, created not for good of […]
Archive | Constitutional Amendments
Response to Prof. Rosenkranz: ArmS & the Man – or Arms & the People
By Eugene Kontorovich on July 9, 2013 2:33 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Fourth Amendment, Guns, Originalism, Right to carry, Self-Defense
Nick takes issue with my suggestion that the Second Amendment on its face bars laws restricting people to one gun, such as that currently proposed by Gov. Quinn in Illinois. My (first) argument is not an originalist or purposivist one, but rather a purely textual one. The primary meaning of “arms” is plural. Nick argues […]
“A Good Musket” and Bearing Arms
By Eugene Kontorovich on July 8, 2013 11:37 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Theory, Guns, Militia, Originalism, Right to carry
I’ve been discussing whether the right to bear arms is infringed by laws limiting people to bearing only one “arm”, as a proposal by Illinois Gov. Quinn seeks to do. Perhaps the best evidence for a singular reading of “arms” is the Second Militia Act of 1792, section 1, which provides, in part, that a […]
Is the Right to Bear Arms Plural?
By Eugene Kontorovich on July 8, 2013 10:04 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law, Guns, Militia, Originalism, Right to carry, Seventh Circuit, Uncategorized
Tomorrow, Illinois’ concealed carry laws will become ineffective, having been held unconstitutional by the Seventh Circuit several months ago. The Court kept the unconstitutional law on life support for a few months to give the legislature time to craft a replacement measure. Springfield responded, but now that bill has been vetoed by Governor Quinn. If […]
Colorado Inside-Out 1973 Time Machine
By David Kopel on July 2, 2013 4:08 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Media, Politics, Presidency, Television, Voting Rights Act
This Friday, July 6, at 8 p.m. Mountain Time, is Colorado Inside-Out’s annual Time Machine episode, on Colorado Public Television, channel 12. These episodes have won three regional Emmy Awards. This year’s episode takes us to 1973, with discussions of Equal Rights Amendment ratification, political violence, the energy crisis, and Watergate. The characters are, from […]
Return of the People’s Rights Amendment
By Ilya Somin on June 20, 2013 3:41 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Theory, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
The Tester-Murphy Amendment, which Eugene Volokh criticizes here. appears to be virtually identical to last year’s People’s Rights Amendment. I outlined some of the dangers posed by the PRA in this post.
Somin on Bond
By Nick Rosenkranz on January 20, 2013 1:58 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law, Treaties
Ilya Somin has a thoughtful post on U.S. v. Bond here. I have only one quibble with what he has said. Ilya agrees with Justice Scalia and me that a treaty cannot increase the legislative power of Congress. But he reaches this conclusion in a slightly different way. The difference is actually an important window […]
Seidman: “Let’s Give Up on [Parts of] the Constitution”
By Jonathan H. Adler on December 31, 2012 9:29 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Popular Constitutionalism
Georgetown’s Louis Michael Seidman, author of On Constitutional Disobedience has an NYT op-ed (noted in the comments to Orin’s open thread) calling for ignoring the Constitution — or at least those parts that he does not like. As the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American […]
Louisiana amendment to strengthen right to arms, on November ballot
By David Kopel on October 3, 2012 7:04 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Elections, Guns, Militia, Popular Constitutionalism, Right to carry, State Constitutional Law
In state elections, the most important vote this November will be in Louisiana. A referendum there would significantly strengthen protection of the right to keep and bear arms in the state, and would set a very significant national precedent. Before the Civil War, the Louisiana Constitution did not mention a right to arms. The Louisiana […]
Anonymity Granted to Catholic Donor Opposed to Marriage Amendment, But Amendment Supporters Object
By Dale Carpenter on September 3, 2012 10:01 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Election Law, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Same-Sex Marriage
In Minnesota, pro- and anti-gay marriage activists are fighting over political campaign disclosure laws, though this time the usual roles are reversed. On August 17, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board ruled that the group working to defeat a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage does not have to disclose the name of a Catholic contributor to the […]
George Will on the People’s Rights Amendment
By Ilya Somin on May 5, 2012 5:46 pm in Constitutional Amendments, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Freedom of Speech
George Will recently published a good Washington Post column on the ill-conceived People’s Rights Amendment, which Eugene Volokh and I blogged about here and here. Will points out several serious flaws in the proposal, and builds on some of the points we made: Controversies can be wonderfully clarified when people follow the logic of illogical […]
The Potential Impact of the People’s Rights Amendment Goes Far Beyond Restricting Freedom of Speech
By Ilya Somin on April 26, 2012 10:22 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Freedom of Speech, Restrictions on Campaign Contrbs. and Expenses
Co-blogger Eugene Volokh has an excellent post on how the proposed People’s Rights Amendment threatens freedom of speech. But it’s important to recognize that the proposal goes far beyond denying free speech rights to entities organized as corporations. It would deny them all other constitutional rights as well. Section 1 of the proposed amendment states […]
Reassessing Our Federal and State Constitutions
By Ilya Somin on March 8, 2012 11:27 pm in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Federalism, Voting With Your Feet
In this recent post, University of Texas constitutional law professor Sanford Levinson calls for a reassessment of our federal and state constitutions: [I]nstead of being fixated on what the Constitution means, one instead asks whether the Constitution, given a stipulated meaning that may in fact not be at all difficult to discern, is in fact […]
Constitutional Cliffhangers: Final Thoughts on Staying Out of Trouble
By Prof. Brian Kalt, guest-blogging on January 27, 2012 11:17 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional Law
My final post about my book, Constitutional Cliffhangers, will deal with fixing and preventing constitutional cliffhangers. One of my pet peeves is when an article identifies a potential constitutional problem and then concludes blithely that the best solution is just to amend the Constitution. Even passing a statute is tough. Heck, just getting Congress’s attention […]
Vladimir Putin and the 22nd Amendment
By Ilya Somin on September 30, 2011 1:14 am in Constitutional Amendments, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Russia
Vladimir Putin’s recent announcement that he intends to return to the presidency after the 2012 election has been rightly denounced as a deepening of authoritarianism in Russia. Having effectively repressed Russia’s opposition parties and media, Putin is now consolidating his position as a dictator. Barring some sort of sudden collapse of his regime (which is […]