Commentary On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued the greatest majority opinion ever written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts. That one-time Obamacare savior, who in 2012 rewrote the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate as a “tax” in order to salvage President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy, this time penned a landmark ruling abolishing something…

This early American patriot was not known as an eloquent speaker, but Thomas Jefferson once said that he was “a man who never said a foolish thing in his life.” Although he received little recognition during his life, Roger Sherman would become known as the only Founding Father to sign four key documents of our…

Commentary On June 15, the Supreme Court issued Haaland v. Brackeen (pdf). Among other issues, the court addressed the scope of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. Specifically, it upheld the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) as within Congress’s power to “regulate Commerce … with the Indian Tribes.” The Commerce Clause part of the decision is…

Commentary If you own a business, the leftists in Congress are coming after you. The only thing standing in their way is the U.S. Constitution. Whether you own a mom-and-pop diner, an auto repair shop, or shares in a multinational corporation, your property is at risk. The Constitution’s takings clause was designed to protect us…

Commentary Justice Clarence Thomas frequently uses concurring and dissenting opinions to explain the Constitution’s fundamental principles. The latest example is his June 8 dissent in Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County v. Talevski (pdf). It explains the meaning and history of Congress’s power to spend money. I recommend it to anyone interested in our…

Commentary In the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will be finishing up its October Term. The term gets its name from the fact that it begins Oct. 1. The next few columns will unpack some of the court’s most important decisions. I will be focusing mostly (although not entirely) on cases interpreting the Constitution…

Commentary The other essays in the “Founders and the Constitution” series each covered one individual. This final essay covers three: the extraordinary group who served as Connecticut’s commissioners (delegates) to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Early Connecticut was known as “the land of steady habits.” The nickname reflected the state’s culture. The people of Connecticut tended…

Commentary Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on Jan. 6, 1706, the youngest son among a tradesman’s 15 children by two successive wives. He had two years of formal education. At the age of 12 he was apprenticed to his older brother James, a printer. Five years later, he ran away to New York. He…

Commentary “If the Govt. is to be lasting, it must be founded in the confidence & affections of the people …”—George Mason, at the Constitutional Convention, Aug. 13, 1787. George Mason of Virginia helped construct the Constitution. He then opposed ratifying the very document he helped construct. Through both courses of action, he strongly influenced…

Commentary Gouverneur Morris was a “chick magnet.” He was tall, handsome, witty, and rich. Even scalding damage to his right arm, loss of his lower leg in a traffic accident, and reliance on a wooden prosthesis for walking didn’t impair his success with women. Part of his attractiveness to women seems to have been a…