Court Cases
Supreme Court: Property Rights vs Labor Unions
As the Supreme Court’s recent Obamacare case illustrates, the justices no longer enforce most of the Constitution’s limits on the federal government. But a new property rights decision demonstrates how they are super-enforcing the Bill of Rights. First some...
Torture Enters the Courtroom
For the first time in American history, a federal judge last week authorized the government to admit as evidence in a criminal case in a public courtroom words uttered by the defendant that were obtained under torture. The fruits of torture – which is any cruel...
The Supreme Court Used to Consider the Minimum Wage Unconstitutional
I wonder how many Americans realize that the U.S. Supreme Court once declared the minimum wage to be in violation of U.S. Constitution. This occurred in 1923 in a case entitled Adkins v. Children’s Hospital. In a 5-3 decision in that case, the Supreme Court held that...
The Legacy of Lochner
The Lochner case may be one of the most remarkable cases in the whole of Constitutional law — remarkable for its influence in the development of “substantive due process.” It’s also remarkable for its role in the Court’s de-coupling of personal...