When John C. Calhoun Sided With “Yankees” on the Constitution
At a time when partisans on either side of a debate want to sidestep the Constitution for temporary gain, it’s worth reflecting on times when constitutional fidelity was taken seriously. One of the more fascinating and less known incidents was in 1835, when the...
Reversing Incorporation?
The Incorporation Doctrine is a commonly accepted constitutional interpretation asserting that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution made the Bill of Rights enforceable by the federal government against the states. But not everyone agrees. In his paper Reversing...
The Incorporation Doctrine Waters Down the Second Amendment
Many people want the federal government to protect the right to keep and bear arms by applying the Second Amendment to the states and using it to limit state gun control. The problem with this strategy is that we almost always end up with a lower standard for the...