Yesterday, I and representatives from several pro-freedom organizations filed this amicus brief in Seven-Sky v. Holder, the latest Court of Appeals case about the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I also filed briefs in the Fourth Circuit case and the Eleventh Circuit case. The briefs cover different—and very interesting—issues. As I [...]
I’ve written at great length about the constitutional issues involved in the Civil War, mostly in response to the increasingly popular argument that secession actually was constitutional and that the Lincoln Administration had no legal authority to use force against the Confederacy—but also in response to various other criticisms of Lincoln and the Union cause. [...]
A few months ago, federal judge Henry Hudson ruled that the Obama Administration’s health care law—and specifically, the requirement that everyone buy health insurance from a private company—exceeds Congress’ constitutional authority. That case (which you can read here) is now on appeal before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and today, PLF, [...]
On Monday, I spoke to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco about economic liberty and the law. They've posted the video of the talk on YouTube. The talk is also going to be broadcast on Bay Area public radio, but I haven't yet heard when that will be.
David Kopel put up a very nice post about the many philosophers who have written on the distinction between a true government and a gang of armed robbers. According to these philosophers, there are real differences between a gang and a government—that is, the latter operates according to certain fundamental principles of [...]
One of my long-standing pet peeves is the way advocates of “judicial restraint” often mis-quote Alexander Hamilton’s brilliant Federalist 78. They’re particularly fond of the phrase “if they [the courts] should be disposed to exercise WILL instead of JUDGMENT, the consequence would equally be the substitution of their pleasure to that of [...]
I was just reminded of this panel discussion on “conservative and libertarian alternatives to originalism” that I attended back in January. I found it ironic because there was only one libertarian on the panel, and nobody offered any alternatives to originalism. And yes, that’s me talking at 1:04:30. […]