This week, the House of Representatives is expected to bring to the floor its second “minibus” package of the appropriations season. The bill combines the appropriations bills from the interior, environment, and related agencies subcommittee and the financial services and general government subcommittee. The House Rules Committee has given the green light as of now…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government strong-armed Big Tech companies into censoring as “disinformation” Americans’ true experiences while effectively mandating government propaganda, which itself turned out to be misinformation. The Supreme Court is currently considering whether that strategy violated the First Amendment. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson suggested during oral arguments Monday that…
Last week, a federal judge for the District Court for Massachusetts granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the state’s prohibition of so-called “assault weapons,” such as the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Judge William Young held that the AR-15 and similar weapons aren’t protected by the Second Amendment, because they were originally designed for military…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held this week in Range v. Garland that the government cannot disarm people convicted of minor, nonviolent offenses. In doing so, it handed down perhaps the most significant Second Amendment victory since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last year, where it held that Americans have a…
A second senator who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act will support Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee's amendment protecting religious freedom, though she did not say whether she would insist on the amendment's adoption as a condition for supporting cloture on the legislation. Republican Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis will support the Lee amendment if…
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday held a hearing, “The Equal Rights Amendment: How Congress Can Recognize Ratification and Enshrine Equality in Our Constitution.” But even before the hearing could conclude, a federal appeals court ruling threw a monkey wrench into ERA backers’ bid to revive the long-dead 1972 amendment. Advocates of the ERA want…
After a string of consecutive victories at the Supreme Court, Second Amendment advocates suffered their first major setback Friday, failing for the first time since 2008’s landmark decision in D.C. v. Heller to convince the nation’s highest court to strike down a gun control law as unconstitutional. In an 8-1 opinion written by Chief Justice…
If Illinois residents think things can’t get any worse economically, just wait. On Nov. 8, they’ll vote on an amendment to the state’s constitution that would guarantee it. Rising public sector pension costs are already causing property tax increases and forcing cuts in public safety and other vital services. Now along comes Amendment 1. It’s…
President Joe Biden released his budget proposal on May 28 as Americans headed into the long Memorial Day weekend. The “unreasonable and irresponsible” measure, as my Heritage Foundation colleague Matthew Dickerson described it, calls for dizzying amounts of spending across the federal government, paid for by American taxpayers. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet…
Americans who believe the Fourth Amendment protects them from warrantless government searches may be surprised to learn that this protection only applies to about 4% of privately owned land in the United States. A 1924 ruling by the Supreme Court in Hester v. United States established what is known as the “Open Fields Doctrine,” which…
The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over Hawaii’s ban on carrying a handgun in public accommodations—such as stores, restaurants, and gas stations—without the property owner’s permission. Alan Beck, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that entering such spaces is an “implied right,” unless the property owner opposes. He said Hawaii’s law flips that presumption and requires…
Roe v. Wade—one of the most contentious Supreme Court decisions of the modern era—was sent to history’s dustheap on Friday. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, stating: We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected…
Oral arguments are over at the Supreme Court for this term. Although the rallies and protesters have dispersed (for now, anyway), the justices remain frantically at work on the numerous opinions they have yet to hand down. With several closely watched cases still pending, it will likely be a historic finish to this Supreme Court…
There were times over the past 50 years when some pro-lifers felt they would never see Roe v. Wade overturned and the right to life again recognized by government. Many who never doubted didn’t live to see this day. They had marched in the cold streets of Washington, D.C., in January on Roe’s anniversary. These…
The Supreme Court heard oral argument Wednesday in an important case involving a Montana tax credit scholarship program that provided scholarships for underprivileged kids to use at private schools. Initially, families could use scholarship funds at qualified religious schools, but the Montana Department of Revenue later implemented an administrative rule excluding religious schools, citing a provision in the…
Everyone agrees that those in certain positions, from teachers to doctors, should report instances of child abuse and neglect. Democrat lawmakers in Washington state, however, are advancing legislation that would require clergy members to report, even in circumstances that would violate the Sacrament of Confession, a central tenet of the Catholic faith. Washington legislators have…
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case that may rein in abusive property seizures by state and local governments through the highly controversial legal tool known as civil asset forfeiture. The case at issue involves a man named Tyson Timbs, who sold $225 worth of heroin to undercover police officers…
Voters in 10 states decided Tuesday either to protect life or to enshrine abortion up to birth in their constitutions, with pro-life advocates prevailing in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Five largely pro-abortion states—Colorado, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, and New York—and five largely pro-life states—Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota—voted in the weeks leading up…
A radical feminist constitutional amendment that could dramatically change the country may be on the verge of passing. Virginia’s now Democrat-controlled legislature is back in session, and there’s a strong chance it will pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which purports to grant equal rights to women under the Constitution. The amendment has passed the Virginia…
Congressional Democrats’ renewed embrace of the 25th Amendment is not aimed at removing President Donald Trump from office, at least not in the near-term, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday. “This is not about President Trump. He will face the judgment of the voters,” Pelosi said. “But he shows the need for us to create…