Public officials and pundits are still digesting the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision in NFIB v. Sebelius. Yet to be discussed are the extraordinary implications for the size and role of government in a second Obama term in light of President
We can all be thankful that one thing the Supreme Court got right in the Obamacare decision was striking down at least part of the Affordable Care Act’s massive expansion of Medicaid that would reduce the states to a subservient
Confusion has reigned over whether Obamacare’s individual mandate is a tax, because politics has gotten in the way of serious discussion (no surprise there). As Governor Mitt Romney tried discussing the issue like the serious businessman and serious lawyer (Harvard
Few outside of Republican circles knew him in 1994, or the new organization he was launching to fight back against leftists and secularists, and provide a conservative answer to the ACLU. Now Alan Sears is the CEO of a massive
As I explained after the Obamacare decision came down, it is one of the most unfortunate decisions ever handed down by our highest court. This tragedy is only compounded by the fact that the main dissent in the decision was
One week after the Supreme Court handed down its most consequential decision in decades (if not more than a century–upholding almost all of Obamacare in NFIB v. Sebelius–constitutional lawyers are just beginning to wrap their heads around the Court’s 193-page
Chief Justice John Roberts provided the critical fifth vote to uphold Obamacare in its entirety, in a case that will go down as one of the worst and most consequential cases in American history. Now the Taxing Clause of the
As the U.S. House of Representatives votes to find Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, the natural question becomes: now what? Legal precedent lays out a step-by-step process, and Holder’s latest gambit suggests he knows of a loophole
Some Republican leaders have made the mistake of saying that President Obama’s invocation of executive privilege over Attorney General Eric Holder is an admission that the White House has been involved in Operation Fast and Furious. The reality is that
Major provisions of Arizona’s S.B. 1070 were held unenforceable by the Supreme Court because they conflict with federal law, though the Court unanimously upheld its most controversial provision. So the biggest immigration case in U.S. history was a mixed result,
FCC fines imposed on two broadcast networks were set aside by the Supreme Court last week as unconstitutional. This case of FCC v. Fox Television was a free speech challenge to a federal indecency law, but the Court caught the
Compelling objecting employees to fund political speech for government unions violates the First Amendment even if you later refund that money to those employees, the Supreme Court held in Knox v. SEIU, a case that is a major blow to
President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege to prevent Attorney General Eric Holder from complying with congressional subpoenas on the Operation Fast and Furious fiasco will blow up in the White House’s face. But not for the reasons you’ve heard on
In 2010 we published a book arguing that Barack Obama was creating an imperial presidency. The past few months prove that prediction was correct. First President Obama’s EPA claimed power to create cap-and-trade through new regulations, rather than Congress passing
President Obama’s new amnesty policy regarding illegal aliens violates the law. But there’s probably no route to trump it either in Congress or in court, so the only recourse is for the American people to trump it by electing a
Everyone is now waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to hand down its decision in NFIB v. Sebelius, the name of the case frequently referred to simply as “Obamacare.” Lawyers argued four issues before the justices who will decide the
President Obama is now trying to get two new judges on America’s second-highest court. Today Obama renominated Caitlin Halligan, who was filibustered last year, and Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
You can’t sue Secret Service agents if they arrest you for lying to them about antagonistically touching a public official, the Supreme Court held this week in a unanimous decision. Vice President Dick Cheney was at a shopping mall in
Either the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the question of same-sex marriage, or it will become a constitutional right in the largest state in the nation later this year. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in Baehr v.
It’s constitutional for a city to adopt a new policy that lets you pay 30 times more taxes than your neighbor for the same service, a divided Supreme Court held this week. Indiana law previously allowed cities to impose the
IThe Supreme Court is the next stop in the battle over the definition of marriage, thanks to a federal appeals court partially striking down a law defending marriage passed by a strong bipartisan majority and signed by President Bill Clinton.
Texas’ Senate seat just became ground zero in the struggle for the soul of the GOP between constitutional conservatives and the establishment. Rising GOP starTed Cruz managed to keep ultra-wealthy Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst from winning the May 29 primary,
Constantly underestimated by the Republican establishment, the Tea Party continues to prove its power in GOP primaries. First Indiana, then Nebraska. And now new polls show rising conservative star Ted Cruz potentially poised to beat ultra-wealthy Lt. Governor David Dewhurst
A deceased man’s child is not always a child under Florida law when it comes to Social Security benefits. So said the Supreme Court in Astrue v. Capato, a case where modern technology collided with federal entitlements. Robert Capato was
Today the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments this October in an intriguing case on the scope of government surveillance powers. A provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) establishes a new framework for U.S. intelligence agencies to apply
Federal courts could soon decide a fight between Congress and Attorney General Eric Holder on the Operation Fast and Furious gun-running scandal. If Republicans persevere, this is a battle that Holder should lose in what would be a humiliating defeat
If a key U.S. intelligence agency enters into a deal with a major email and search-engine provider, and you request confirmation of this deal, the government doesn’t have to answer you one way or the other. So says a federal
Elections are about choices, and 2012’s pivotal election showcases two very different visions for America’s future. Governor Mitt Romney is quickly consolidating the Republican base to enthusiastically support him this November. His speech this weekend at Liberty University illustrates these
“Our Founding Fathers enshrined the Second Amendment for one purpose: survival.Survival of each citizen. Survival of a nation.” With those words as his theme, thelongest-serving head of the National Rifle Association (NRA)–CEO Wayne LaPierre–trumpeted unity for all conservatives going into
President Barack Obama’s unconstitutional recess appointments might be struck down by a federal court, with a heavyweight legal challenge now carrying the torch for the U.S. Senate in this challenge. Senior officers in the executive branch of government must be
Arizona might be going to the U.S. Supreme Court yet again. A federal appeals courtupheld part of the Grand Canyon State’s voter-ID law but struck down another partof Arizona’s law as inconsistent with a 1993 federal law. This might become
Federal courts will decide whether U.S. passports must declare Jerusalem part of Israel. In Zivotofsky v. Clinton, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s conclusion that this issue must be resolved in the political arena between President Obama and
Sadly, some are exploiting the Trayvon Martin shooting to target self-defense laws that protect innocent lives. These statutes safeguard law-abiding and peaceable citizens, and are not to blame in the tragic Florida incident. Stand Your Ground laws did not apply
The Supreme Court narrowly sided with police, holding on April 2nd that the Fourth Amendment allows strip searches for anyone taken to jail if that person will mingle with the other inmates. Years ago, an arrest warrant was issued against
Over the past several years, I’ve been to the Supreme Court dozens of times to cover cases. Some of them have been blockbusters such as the Citizens United v. FEC campaign finance case, the Snyder v. Phelps (crazy Westboro protesters)
