Has the United States become what President Donald Trump recently condemned? Can the president fight any war he wishes? Can Congress fund any war it chooses? Are there constitutional and legal requirements that must first be met before war is waged? These questions...
All attempts by the government to evaluate the content of speech and deter or punish what the government and its benefactors hate or fear is un-American, unconstitutional and unlawful; and if not stopped, will reduce the American people to serfdom. During the past...
Among the lesser-known holes in the Constitution cut by the Patriot Act of 2001 was the destruction of the "wall" between federal law enforcement and federal spies. The wall was erected in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which statutorily limited...
"No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of [the Constitution's] provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government." ~ Ex Parte Milligan, Supreme Court of the United States, 1866...
"I disagree with what you say but will defend to the death your right to say it." ~ Voltaire (1694-1778) When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he included in it a list of the colonists' grievances with the British government. Notably absent were...
"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a socialist.| Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – Because I was...
The taxing power in the federal government resides in the Congress. The Constitution states that Congress has the power to "lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts" of the federal government. Indeed, in order to emphasize the location of...
When British kings wanted to dispose of troublesome enemies – real or imagined – they often had them or their colleagues arrested on pretextual charges and then brutally tortured until confessions were extracted. The confessions were then read aloud during so-called...
In 2021, to his credit, President Joe Biden warned the American public against the dangers of zero-click spyware manufactured by an Israeli corporation. Zero-click is unwanted software that can expose the entire contents of one's mobile or desktop device to prying...
"Congress shall make no law ...abridging the freedom of speech or of the press..." ~ First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution During the oral argument before the Supreme Court in the famous Pentagon Papers case, a fascinating colloquy took place between Justice...
