14th Amendment
The Incorporation Doctrine and the Bill of Rights
In a previous Constitution 101 post, I established that the Bill of Rights was not originally intended to apply to the states. But lawyers and other supporters of federal courts policing rights at the state and local level will point to the 14th Amendment. They argue...
The “Right to Travel”
During the COVID-19 epidemic, state and local governments have restricted greatly the freedom of citizens to travel from one place to another. As I have pointed out, many of these restrictions violate modern constitutional law. The Supreme Court characterizes the...
Supreme Court Simultaneously Tramples State Sovereignty and Fourth Amendment
A case recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court once again reveals the inherent danger of placing virtually unlimited authority in the federal judiciary and centralizing decision making for 50 sovereign states and over 325 million people in the hands of nine...
Giving Federalism the Middle Finger
The impulse to turn everything into a federal case – even something a personal as an obscene finger gesture – flips the middle finger at the political system the founders created. Whether you agree with the behavior or not, the “right” to wave your middle...