Articles by Hans von Spakovsky

Mel Gibson from the war film "We Were Soldiers."

6 Hollywood Classics Worth a Watch This Memorial Day Weekend

Hans von Spakovsky | May 23, 2025

On Memorial Day, we honor the Americans who have died protecting and serving this country in the Armed Forces of the United States of America…. Read More

LawCommentary

Four juicy tomatoes on the vine against a white backdrop.

When Tomatoes Became Veggies: 19th-Century SCOTUS Tariff Ruling Hints at the Questions the Court May Soon Face

Hans von Spakovsky | May 12, 2025

President Donald Trump has been using an old tool ignored by recent presidents to target trade abusers like China that impose significant barriers to American… Read More

LawCommentary

Judges Wage War Against Trump

Hans von Spakovsky | May 04, 2025

During his first 100 days in office, President Donald Trump acted with unprecedented speed to make major changes in government policies and root out the… Read More

LawCommentary

Sign with white lettering against black background reading Judge Hannah C. Dugan 615.

Judges Who Break Federal Law Can and Should Be Prosecuted

Hans von Spakovsky | April 30, 2025

As the old saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. How else can you make sense of or explain how two unrelated state court… Read More

LawCommentary

A woman inserts a voting ballot in a large ballot drop box

Court Upholds Majority of Trump’s Executive Order on Election Integrity

Hans von Spakovsky | April 29, 2025

If you thought from news coverage that a federal judge had completely knocked out President Donald Trump’s March 25 executive order, “Preserving and Protecting the… Read More

PoliticsCommentary

The White House Press Room is filled with reporters

The Associated Press’ Narrow ‘Victory’ Over the White House

Hans von Spakovsky | April 17, 2025

The Associated Press claims it won a “major victory” in its lawsuit against the White House, but you would think a wire service that says it… Read More

LawCommentary

Seventeen members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and members of the MS-13 gang, who were deported to El Salvador by the U.S., are seen here in San Salvador, El Salvador, on March 31.

Justices Hand Trump National Security Win That Protects Public From Illegal Alien Criminals

Hans von Spakovsky | April 08, 2025

On Monday night, a 5-to-4 majority of the Supreme Court not only dissolved the controversial temporary restraining orders issued by Judge James Boasberg of the… Read More

LawCommentary

Boston Municiple Court Judge Mark Summerville looks on stoically as an ICE defense lawyer gestures toward the prosecution and argues against holding an ICE agent for "obstructing justice."

Boston Judge Mark Summerville Should Go Back to Law School

Hans von Spakovsky | April 03, 2025

Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville must have flunked Constitutional Law 101 from whatever law school he managed to graduate from. He apparently doesn’t realize… Read More

LawCommentary

A judge's gavels is placed against a sounding block.

How Major American Law Firms Became a Tool of the Left

Hans von Spakovsky | March 31, 2025

Judge James Ho of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently charged that the nation’s major law firms are infested with the woke ideology of the… Read More

LawCommentary

President Donald Trump in a suit with a blue tie holds up an executive order he signed.

Trump Acts to Protect American Voters

Hans von Spakovsky | March 27, 2025

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to take numerous actions intended “to protect the integrity of our election process.”… Read More

SocietyCommentary

Patrick Henry is captured in a painting of him delivering his famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.

The Left Has No Respect for God, Country, or History–Including Patrick Henry

Hans von Spakovsky | March 26, 2025

Three years ago I wrote about what a spine-tingling feeling it was to attend a recreation of Patrick Henry’s fiery “Give me liberty, or give… Read More

LawCommentary

Rochelle Garza holding a microphone while standing on stage wearing a green blazer.

Despite Trump Order, Another Bureaucrat Stubbornly Clings to Power

Hans von Spakovsky | March 25, 2025

If you miss the flurry of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus now that the animals are gone, you might catch the next… Read More

SocietyCommentary

The Sky Will Not Fall and America Won’t Grind to a Halt Because Some Federal Employees Are Losing Their Jobs Due to DOGE

Hans von Spakovsky | March 22, 2025

Fear is a strong motivator—especially when it’s given a political megaphone. And Democrat officials, public employee unions, and their minions in the media have no… Read More

SecurityCommentary

Some FBI Agents Haven’t Gotten the Message Yet on Gender Ideology

Hans von Spakovsky | March 17, 2025

UPDATE—March 18, 2025: We have already heard from sources inside the FBI that as soon as this article was published, it was read by senior FBI… Read More

PoliticsCommentary

Protesters walk down a sidewalk holding anti-Israel signs.

Masked Hamas Agitators at Universities Should Be Criminally Prosecuted

Hans von Spakovsky | March 15, 2025

The Trump administration is finally doing what President Joe Biden refused: revoking visas and deporting violent Hamas-supporting foreign “students” once and for all. These agitators should count their blessings…. Read More

LawCommentary

The Swamp Can Scream But DOGE Is on a Lawful Path to Success

Hans von Spakovsky | March 14, 2025

Despite a smattering of preliminary injunctions and administrative stay orders from rogue federal judges, President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is well on its… Read More

LawCommentary

Attorney General Merrick Garland in a black suit and red tie speaks at lectern in Louisville Kentucky

The Arrogance of the Garland Justice Department Apparently Had No Bounds

Hans von Spakovsky | March 12, 2025

Another federal district court judge has questioned the propriety of a settlement hastily proposed by the Biden administration’s Justice Department in a case it had… Read More

LawNews

The First ‘Mini-Me’ Executive Branch Case Gets to the Supreme Court on an Emergency Appeal

Hans von Spakovsky | February 19, 2025

The first case involving judicial interference in the president’s executive authority has reached the Supreme Court in an emergency appeal filed over President Donald Trump’s… Read More

LawCommentary

Actors Mike ("Dr. Evil") Meyers (right) and Verne ("Mini-Me") Troyor in a scene from the 1999 comedy film "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."

‘Mini-Me’ Executive Branch Agencies Run Amok. Not for Much Longer, If Trump Has His Way.

Hans von Spakovsky | February 15, 2025

In a letter that no doubt sent shock waves through Washington’s permanent, untouchable bureaucracy, President Donald Trump’s acting solicitor general, Sarah Harris, sent a letter… Read More

Law PoliticsCommentary

Merrick Garland in a suit raises his hands up

How the Justice Department Conspired to Legalize Racist Hiring in Cobb County, Georgia, Before Trump Came In

Hans von Spakovsky | February 12, 2025

If you want to see a prime example of the lawlessness of the Civil Rights Division under the Merrick Garland-run Justice Department, look no further… Read More

EducationCommentary

Students protesting holding signs and banners, rallying for illegal immigrants

Taxpayer-Subsidized College Tuition for Illegal Aliens—but Not for Citizens

Hans von Spakovsky | February 07, 2025

Did you know that 25 states offer in-state college tuition to illegal aliens? Probably not. And did you know that there is a federal statute… Read More

PoliticsNews

Maxine Waters stands by herself with her hands by her side.

Want ‘Due Cause’ for the Firing of Inspectors General? How About This?

Hans von Spakovsky | January 30, 2025

Democrats in Congress like Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., are criticizing President Donald Trump’s firing of 17 inspectors general, including in the… Read More

LawAnalysis

A pregnant women stands in a black shirt next to a white U.S. border patrol truck.

The Birthright Citizenship Clause Too Many Forget, but Trump Is Right to Question

Hans von Spakovsky | January 28, 2025

Few of President Donald Trump’s new executive orders have caused as much alarm as the one on birthright citizenship. That order prohibits federal agencies from issuing or… Read More

InternationalCommentary

The Greenland coat of arms is on the side of a building wall.

Buy Greenland, and You May Get More Than You Bargained for

Hans von Spakovsky | January 21, 2025

President Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland is certainly understandable. The “gateway to the Arctic” and location of the Thule Air Base—now Pituffik Space Base—has… Read More

LawCommentary

Cars on a highway photographed from the air being tracked electronically with green Or read digital boxes around Each one

Consumers Unaware Allstate Is Tracking Their Driving Behaviors

Hans von Spakovsky | January 17, 2025

In our modern age of camera-equipped cellphones and laptops, ubiquitous social media websites, and constant GPS tracking that everyone seems to use to go anywhere,… Read More

LawCommentary

Joe Biden in a black suit with a blue tie and American flag pin raises his hands

The Shameful Call for Clemency of a Tax Return-Stealing Felon

Hans von Spakovsky | January 14, 2025

It is bad enough that President Joe Biden has pardoned hundreds of drug dealers, embezzlers, thieves, and other dangerous criminals; commuted the death sentences of… Read More

PoliticsCommentary

A hand with a pen fill out a census questionnaire.

States Should Conduct Their Own Censuses, Count Citizens Only for Redistricting. Here’s How.

Hans von Spakovsky | January 13, 2025

The inclusion of aliens, legal or illegal, in the population used for apportionment of the U.S. House of Representatives and for redistricting (i.e., drawing new… Read More

LawCommentary

Fani Willis in a red outfit with pears pushes her hand out.

Fulton County Taxpayers Pay for Fani Willis’ Outrageous Misbehavior—Again

Hans von Spakovsky | January 08, 2025

Imagine if you went to Hollywood trying to attract investors for the following movie plot: an incompetent, unethical, but politically ambitious local district attorney criminally… Read More

PoliticsCommentary

Mauro Morales, the outgoing staff director of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, is seen here with his wife, Janet Murguia, who heads UnidosUS, at Voto Latino's "Our Voices" event on April 28, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

DRAIN THE SWAMP: Civil Rights Commission Would Be a Great Place to Start

Hans von Spakovsky | January 07, 2025

Given vexing experiences in his first administration, once and future President Donald Trump is well aware of the resistance he will face from the Swamp,… Read More

Feature

A 19th-century illustration of going to a Christmas market via horse and carriage in the snow

A Christmas Tale, 1919

Hans von Spakovsky | December 23, 2024

Editor’s note: This true story about my family was first published by The Wall Street Journal in 2008. It has now been 105 years since my… Read More

Hans von Spakovsky

Contributor

Articles by Hans von Spakovsky