U.S. Constitution
Even if charged and convicted, Trump will still be able to run in 2024 and serve if elected
The criminal referral of Donald Trump to the Department of Justice by a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack is largely symbolic – the panel itself has no power to prosecute any individual. Nonetheless, the recommendation that Trump be investigated for four potential crimes – obstructing an official proceeding; conspiracy to defraud the United […]
Checks on Ohio GOP’s gerrymandering to be tested in U.S. Supreme Court case being heard Wednesday
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman is on pins and needles. The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments this week on an elections law case that could make his life as Ohio’s premier despot a lot easier — or not. The highly anticipated Moore v. Harper is brought by Huffman’s kindred spirits in the Republican-controlled North […]
The right to vote is not in the Constitution
If you’re looking for the right to vote, you won’t find it in the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Two of the most important cases at the Supreme Court this year address voting rights, and both legal controversies focus on the right to vote. But rather than denials of the right to […]
Our new Republican activist U.S. Supreme Court is assaulting the separation of church and state
American politicians fear-mongering over moral and religious decline, and advocating for state sponsorship of religion, is as old as the founding of the Republic. The key original battle took place in Virginia between “Give me liberty, or give me death,” Patrick Henry, an astute political opportunist who opposed the U.S. Constitution, and the “Father of […]
When are book bans unconstitutional? A First Amendment scholar explains
The United States has become a nation divided over important issues in K-12 education, including which books students should be able to read in public school. Efforts to ban books from school curricula, remove books from libraries and keep lists of books that some find inappropriate for students are increasing as Americans become more polarized […]
Bookman: ‘We the people’ are in dangerous territory
The state of our union is precarious. It is precarious not because of some outside threat – outside threats we can still handle. It is precarious because we have forgotten our way, because we find ourselves increasingly seduced by a perverted, stunted and selfish notion of freedom. It is precarious because some of us have […]
Think Texas politics is extreme? Ohio right-wing radicalism has taken over the state
Don’t kid yourself. Texas radicalism isn’t just coming to a state near you. It’s been in Ohio for a long while and getting worse. Understand that the abhorrent politics being practiced against Texans by the GOP is being mimicked by Republican copycats in Columbus. Hold that thought. Jaws dropped when Texas got away with enacting […]
COVID brings front and center the tug between individual rights and the public good
By Janice Ellis It seems that getting control of the coronavirus has brought front and center the question: When should an individual’s right become more important than what is in the best health and welfare of the people, the country? The Bill of Rights places high priority on individual freedoms — the bedrock of our democracy that […]
Ohio Republicans go full Calhoun on nullification. Never go full Calhoun.
Ohio Republicans in the state legislature have apparently decided to go full Calhoun with a proposed bill attempting to nullify not only any federal gun laws they don’t like but also any court rulings related to gun laws with which they disagree. They do not possess the power to do this under the U.S. Constitution, […]