Constitutional Topics

What Is a Grand Jury?

When you hear that someone was “indicted,” it can sound like a judge reviewed the evidence, weighed the arguments, and issued a formal accusation. That is not what happened. In most serious federal criminal cases, an indictment is the product of a grand jury, a group of ordinary citizens...

Red Flag Laws Explained

“Red flag law” is one of those phrases that sounds self-explanatory until you try to pin it down. Supporters hear a safety valve. Critics hear a shortcut around the Second Amendment. Both reactions miss something important. Most red flag laws are not criminal prosecutions. They are civil court...

Contempt of Congress Explained

Congress cannot pass laws, oversee the executive branch, or expose corruption if witnesses can simply ignore it. That is the basic logic behind contempt of Congress : a set of tools that lets the House or Senate punish or pressure people who obstruct investigations, refuse to testify, or defy...

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 Explained

The Alien Enemies Act sounds like a relic from powdered wigs and quill pens. In reality, it is one of the few laws from 1798 that is still on the books, still usable, and still capable of changing someone’s life overnight. It is also widely misunderstood. It was passed in a moment of national...

How the Supreme Court Works

The Supreme Court does not work like television. There is no surprise witness. No dramatic cross-examination. No jury. Most of what matters happens in writing, largely out of public view, and on a schedule that looks more like an academic calendar than a criminal trial. And yet the Court’s...

Posse Comitatus Act Explained

There is a reason most Americans get uneasy when they see troops in the streets, even if the troops are calm, disciplined, and “just helping.” In the United States, military power is supposed to face outward. Policing power is supposed to face inward. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 is one of...

War Powers Resolution Explained

The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. The Constitution makes the president the Commander in Chief. Those two sentences look clean on parchment and collide messily in real life. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 is Congress’s attempt to manage that collision. It does not...

Qualified Immunity

Qualified immunity is one of those legal phrases that sounds like a technical footnote until you realize it can decide whether a person ever gets their day in court. It comes up most often in lawsuits against police officers, but it applies more broadly to many government officials. When qualified...

What Is the Filibuster and How Does It Work?

The filibuster is one of those Washington words that sounds like a dusty procedural relic until it suddenly becomes the main character of American lawmaking. When the Senate “filibusters” a bill or nomination, what is really happening is simple: a minority of senators is using the Senate’s...

Can a Person With a Felony Conviction Vote? Voting Rights by State

“Can a person with a felony conviction vote?” sounds like it should have one national answer. It does not. In the United States, voting rights after a felony conviction are mostly a state policy choice, and the differences are dramatic. In some states, you can vote even while incarcerated. In...

Civil Asset Forfeiture Explained

Civil asset forfeiture is one of those government powers that sounds like a plot device until it happens to you. A traffic stop. A search. A dog alert. A wad of cash in the glove compartment. Then the officer says the words that change the entire posture of the encounter: the property is being...

Separation of Powers: The Three Branches Explained

Most Americans can name the three branches of government. Fewer can explain what each one actually does without slipping into civics class shorthand like “Congress makes laws” and “the President enforces them.” That shorthand is not wrong. It is just incomplete. The Constitution does not...

Jury Nullification: Can a Jury Legally Ignore the Law?

Every criminal trial ends with the same ritual: the judge explains the law, the jury “finds the facts,” and everyone pretends those roles never overlap. Then a jury walks into the deliberation room and does something the system is built to discourage, but cannot completely prevent: it refuses...

Habeas Corpus Explained

Habeas corpus is one of those constitutional phrases people recognize without quite knowing what it does. It sounds ceremonial, like something you would find engraved on a courtroom wall. In reality, it is a blunt tool. A person is locked up. A judge demands an answer. The government must either...

Judge’s Shorter Sentence for ISIS Supporter Draws New Scrutiny

A criminal sentence can feel like the end of a story. But sometimes it is the beginning of a much harder civic question: what did the justice system decide, and what risks did that decision leave behind? That question is at the center of renewed attention on the federal case of Mohamed Jalloh, a...

Article II Unbound: Is Trump Redefining the Presidency Through Force?

From the fortified streets of Caracas to the protest-choked avenues of Minneapolis, the American presidency is undergoing a radical stress test. In a matter of weeks, President Donald Trump has asserted a sweeping interpretation of Article II powers that challenges a century of legal norms, leaving...

Trump “Jokes” About Canceling the 2026 Midterms

The setting was the Kennedy Center. The audience was House Republicans at their annual retreat. The date was January 6, 2026 – five years exactly since the Capitol attack. And the president mused aloud about canceling the 2026 midterm elections. Then he caught himself. “I won’t say, ‘Cancel...

The 12 Most Insane Constitutional Crises of 2025

Twelve months. Twelve constitutional explosions. Some made headlines for a week. Others are still burning through the courts. This isn’t your civics teacher’s review of separation of powers. This is the year the Constitution stopped being a dusty document and became the most fought-over...

Does Christmas As a Federal Holiday Violate The Constitutional Separation Of Church And State?

Every year on December 25th, the federal government closes. Post offices shut down. Federal employees get paid time off. Courts don’t convene. All to observe Christmas – a holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. How does that not violate the First Amendment’s prohibition on...

Did the Supreme Court Invent a New Gun Right?

For 217 years, the Second Amendment didn’t protect your right to own a gun for self-defense in your home. Then in 2008, it suddenly did. The Supreme Court’s decision in District of Columbia v. Heller declared for the first time in American history that the Constitution guarantees an individual...