The Fourteenth Amendment and Birthright Citizenship

This week the President declared his intention to end "birthright citizenship" via executive order. As birthright citizenship is conferred via the Constitution, good luck with that. Leaving alone the President's intentions and legal knowledge, the last Supreme Court case addressing birthright citizenship is instructive on the concept itself. All persons born or naturalized in the…

A Prosecutor’s Discretion

A friend of Law Talkin' Guy requested a post on "prosecutorial discretion," and with upcoming elections it is a fine topic to consider. In our legal system, the prosecution chooses whether or not to bring charges, and what charges to bring. Why this system? Consider the nature of law. Law is a tool, the purpose…

Founders Part 2: The Foundering

We are a week past July 4th, a time of BBQs, fireworks, and hopefully some national self-reflection.  My July 4th post consists of the full text of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration stated what America intended to be as a nation. We rightly celebrate America's independence from Britain, expressed in both legal terms and ethical…

Declaration of Independence

It's good to take a read through this once a year, the document that summarized the colonists' grievances against their king and then declared their own independence. Maybe this will be the year America rises to these ideals. Not holding my breath. *** When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one…

Shocking the Conscience

Bush-appointed federal judge Dana Sabraw issued a scathing order halting most family separations at the border and reuniting those already separated. Judge Sabraw's words speak for themselves: This practice of separating class members from their minor children, and failing to reunify class members with those children, without any showing the parent is unfit or presents…

The Right of Asylum – A Force for Good

I write today due to the current policy of separating families at the border, including those seeking asylum. Morally, this is grotesque, abhorrent. I originally set out to explain why this is also legally unnecessary, but Prof. Somin has already written an excellent piece, which I encourage you to read. Instead, after a brief introduction to the…

Federal Power, Gambling, and Sanctuary Cities

The Constitution established a sovereign federal government while leaving in place the sovereign state governments. While the Constitution limited state sovereignty, it did not eliminate it. States are free to pass their own laws and maintain their own court systems, and most of the laws we encounter in our daily lives are state laws (all…