Outside the Beltway

A mere technicality?

tl;dr: Trump is a nightmare client & nightmare clients don’t do well in criminal courts

The left and right are attacking basic rights. But not equally.

Is it time to call the whole thing off?

The 6-3 ruling broke down on predictable lines.

Is harassing judges, mayors, Senators, and the like in their private lives just free speech?

The Free State may have gotten just a little freer.

How should we balance public health and fundamental rights?

Amending the Constitutional through unconstitutional means is a very bad idea.

Definitions are fun, right?

Legitimacy hangs in the balance.

Dissenters to a denied emergency appeal argue it is.

The Constitution in times of extreme crisis.

The Commonwealth is about to become the 38th State to ratify the Nixon-era Amendment.

Continuing a discuss from below.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has once again upheld a local ordinance banning assault weapons.

Just over nine years after retiring from the Supreme Court, former Associate Justice John Paul Stevens has passed away at the age of 99.

The Supreme Court ruled that a World War One memorial that had been on public grounds for 70 years can stay where it is.

Donald Trump has endorsed a proposal by a Republican Senator to ban flag burning.

The Supreme Court has ruled to keep the long-standing “dual sovereigns” exception to the Double Jeopardy Clause in place.

It’s a lot harder than it looks.

The Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument in a case involving a World War I Memorial in the form of a cross on public land in Suburban Maryland.

A student in Florida has been charged with creating a disturbance after declining to recite the Pledge Of Allegiance in class.

The Supreme Court issued a ruling that places new limits on civil asset forfeiture by state and local government.

The Supreme Court appears ready to impose at least some limits on civil asset forfeiture at the state level.

The morning show co-hosts tied the knot at a secret ceremony at the National Archives.

There’s a new church/state separation case on the Supreme Court’s docket.

The second installment of a seemingly forgotten series.

For the second time this year, a Federal Court has struck down a state law designed to punish businesses that engage in a boycott aimed at Israel.

The State of Texas is arguing in Court that a school district can force a student to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment.

For the second time in two years, the Supreme Court starts a new term down one Justice. That isn’t as big a problem as it might seem.

A Federal Judge in Washington State has, at least temporarily, blocked the release of files that would allow anyone to make a 3-D printed gun. The First Amendment seems to clearly indicate that this ruling is wrong.

We may finally get a ruling applying the Excessive Fine Clause to the states and limiting the ability of police to confiscate property.

Earlier this week, the Illinois legislature ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. What’s unclear is if this act has any meaning at all.

Ebola is making a reappearance in Central Africa.. Will the world be better prepared this time?

The incident involving Paul Ryan and the House Chaplain has raised some questions.

It’s a valid question, but one should also be careful about drawing conclusions based on how a person in Trump’s position acts.

Another Federal Court loss for gun rights activists challenging state laws banning “assault weapons.”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case pitting the First Amendment against the right of states to regulate elections.

Since the Supreme Court handed down its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller four separate Federal appellate courts have ruled that state and local laws banning “assault weapons” do not violate the Second Amendment.

Continuing a pattern that has gone on for eight years now, the Supreme Court has declined to hear another appeal regarding a Second Amendment challenge to state gun control laws.

One of the main objections that many on the right seem to have to proposals to legalize DACA beneficiaries and other illegal immigrants is the idea that they could eventually become citizens. There’s no good reason they shouldn’t be able to do so.

A Federal Judge In Kansas has blocked enforcement of a state law barring anyone who does business with the state from engaging in a boycott of Israel.

Another win for forces fighting partisan Gerrymandering.

Polling remains uncertain in the Alabama Senate race, but the odds favor Roy Moore.

The Supreme Court has declined to hear yet another Second Amendment case.

Donald Trump is continuing to up the ante in his rhetorical war against one of America’s most fundamental freedoms.

Arguments advanced by those advocating a bill that would prevent Americans from participating in a boycott of Israel would not violate the First Amendment appear to be without merit.

The American Health Care Act may have sailed through the House, but the Senate is another story.