The U.S. Constitution

When Commentators Contact Trial Witnesses: Utah Rules, Subpoenas, and the Owens-Robinson Firestorm

Sometimes a controversy goes viral because of one clean scandal. A single quote. A single clip. A single unmistakable line crossed. This one is messier, and that is exactly why it is sticking. Candace Owens is trending because two separate storylines collided on the same day: (1) she publicly...

Texas Vote-by-Mail ID Rules and SB 1 Litigation

Texas has been litigating its post-2020 election rules for years, and the latest flashpoint is familiar: who sets the rules for voting, what counts as a permissible anti-fraud safeguard, and when federal courts can step in to stop a state from running its elections the way it chooses. Takeaway: In...

Tariffs, Section 232, and De Minimis

Tariffs feel like a blunt instrument. One day a product is cheap, the next day it is not. But the real story in the current tariff fights is not a single rate or a single sector. It is the way presidential power has grown into a system where the White House can tighten trade rules quickly, category...

What Is the National Firearms Act? Suppressor Rules After the Latest Ruling

The National Firearms Act, or NFA, is one of those federal laws that reshaped how certain firearms and firearm devices are bought, transferred, and prosecuted through forms, approvals, and penalties. It does not categorically prohibit silencers for civilians nationwide. Instead, it creates a...

Is Vandalizing a National War Memorial a Federal Crime?

The Constitution does not have a “thou shalt not deface the World War II Memorial” clause. But it does give Congress something just as powerful: the ability to protect federal property. So when news breaks that a National Mall memorial has been spray-painted, the core legal question is not whether...

Can Trump Run Again in 2028? The 22nd Amendment and the Third-Term Wall

Presidential term limits are one of those constitutional rules most Americans feel in their bones even if they cannot quote the exact text. This week, President Donald Trump put that rule back on the front page himself. Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday night, Trump...

How the Executive Branch Cancels Visas

The State Department says it has revoked more than 175,000 visas since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 . In its public statement, the Department described revocations involving people who “ violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against U.S....

How Eighth Circuit Judges Are Nominated

When a president announces a new nominee for a federal appeals court seat, it can sound like a personnel move in Washington. But constitutionally, it is one of the most direct ways a president and the Senate shape the meaning of federal law for decades. That is the backdrop to a report by Brooke...

Minnesota Welfare Fraud Scandal: How Public-Benefit Fraud Is Investigated and Prosecuted

When a public-benefit fraud story re-enters the headlines, it often comes wrapped in campaign language: who knew what, who was “tainted,” who should answer for what. But the legal system does not run on slogans. It runs on jurisdiction, evidence, intent, and due process. This article explains what...

Presidential Clemency Power: Pardons, Commutations, and DOJ Vetting

When a president issues a large batch of commutations outside the usual Justice Department review pipeline, the resulting internal scramble can make clemency sound like a paperwork problem. It is not. It is a constitutional design feature, and a political accountability problem. The Constitution...

EPA Section 404(c) Explained: The Clean Water Act Veto That Can Stop Permitted Projects

You can build a project around a federal permit and still discover that the permit was never the final word. That is the core anxiety behind the recent attention to Section 404(c) of the Clean Water Act: a power Congress gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prohibit or restrict the...

FSU Scholarship Investigation: Title VI and Equal Protection, Explained

Florida State University is facing a federal civil-rights investigation over scholarship programs that allegedly limit eligibility based on race or sex. The headline is easy. The law underneath it is not. This story sits at the intersection of three things Americans often blur together: the...

Can a President Serve a Third Term? What the 22nd Amendment Says

The question resurfaces every few years, usually after an offhand comment or a headline that sounds like a dare: can a president serve a third term? Today the answer is straightforward in law and in practice. The Constitution, through the 22nd Amendment , forbids any person from being elected...

What Is ICE and What Can Congress Legally Do About It?

When a candidate says they want to “rip ICE apart,” they are not just making a statement about immigration policy. They are making a claim about government structure. And structure is where the Constitution quietly does most of its work. Immigration and enforcement live at the intersection of two...

Can a President Rewrite the Vaccine Schedule?

Presidents love the clean drama of a signature. One pen stroke, one camera flash, and the public is supposed to understand: something has changed . On childhood vaccines, President Donald Trump is testing that idea again. His new executive order calls for fewer childhood vaccines and recommends...

Can a Court Order a Security Clearance Restored?

A former Secretary of the Air Force is preparing to take his security-clearance dispute to court, and the legal question underneath it is one the Constitution keeps bringing us back to: who controls access to the nation’s secrets , and how far judges can go when the executive branch says “no.”...

Can Gun Makers Be Sued for a “No-Trigger” Discharge?

When people think about “gun rights,” they usually picture laws passed by legislatures: bans, permits, waiting periods, and background checks. But sometimes the Constitution shows up in a place that feels more everyday and more personal: a product liability lawsuit, filed by someone who says a...

Texas Man Arrested After Rant About Age Checks Blocking His Anime

Most Americans have a pretty simple mental model of free speech: you can criticize the government, you can swear at the government, and you can be obnoxious while doing it. That model is mostly right. It just breaks down at one fraught edge case: when a political rant starts to sound like a threat....

Texas, Suppressors, and the Limits of State Power

It is easy to treat a ruling about suppressors like a niche fight between hobbyists and regulators. But the decision handed down by U.S. District Judge James Hendrix last week is not a narrow technicality. It is a constitutional pressure point. When a federal judge says parts of a 1930s gun law may...

No Gestational Cap After Dobbs

When a headline says a state “allows abortions up to birth,” it can sound like the law has abolished every boundary. In some states, what happened is more legally specific: the state removed one kind of boundary, a week-based gestational age cap , while leaving other controls in place through...