Constitution
Originalism, Nonoriginalism and Venezuela
From an originalist perspective, I think itโs clear that President Trump did not have the constitutional power to take the actions he took against the Maduro government in Venezuela. As argued at lengthย here, the Constitution allocates to Congress โ and by implication...
The Myth of Unlimited Federal Supremacy
The supremacy clause โexpressly limits this supremacy to laws made pursuant to the Constitution.โ Even Alexander Hamilton understood this. And he was as big of a fan of centralized national power as you could find among the founders. But today, almost all the...
Lysander Spooner: The Truth About “Checks and Balances”
Spooner understood something most Americans still refuse to believe today. Every check on federal power you were taught about? They donโt work. Oaths? Meaningless. Elections? Theater. Separation of powers? Not in practice. As he put it, tyrants only care about one...
A Trumpian Headache
President Donald Trump’s use of the U.S. military to kill persons on speed boats in international waters, or in territorial waters claimed by other sovereign nations โ all 1,500 miles from the U.S. โ has posed grave issues of due process. The...