Incorporation Doctrine
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...
The Supreme Court’s New Decision on “Taking Property”
In the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will be finishing up its October Term. The term gets its name from the fact that it begins Oct. 1. The next few columns will unpack some of the court’s most important decisions. I will be focusing mostly (although not entirely)...
Yet Another Federal Court Fail
Conservatives and libertarians often count on the federal courts to “protect their rights.” This is a bad strategy. Most of the time it fails. Instead of protecting rights, federal courts hand down bad precedents that end up applying to the entire United States. Yet...