Musings on Constitutional Philosophy

The Lawfulness of Bolling v. Sharpe

The Supreme Court is busying itself deciding cases around the end of its annual term, and the big theme seems to be that the government is allowed to do unspeakable things to immigrants. One of today's decisions concerned the Trump Administration's withdrawal of temporary protected status

Housekeeping Note: On Hiatus (ish)

Hi all! You may have noticed that I haven't written anything in quite a while now. The reason for this is absolutely NOT that I have abandoned this newsletter. Rather, it is that I have some bigger projects brewing that have been taking up my time and effort.

The Curious Case of the Twenty-Eighth Amendment, Part II: Did the ERA Expire?

Remember this? It's been a while. Way way back in January 2025, a bunch of activists were lobbying outgoing President Joe Biden to take action to recognize the Equal Rights Amendment as having been adopted as part of the Constitution. At that time, I wrote the first of

No, the Presidential Records Act Is Not Unconstitutional

A few days ago, the Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion to the effect that the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional. Now, I have said that I don't expect to use this newsletter to do commentary on current events very much in the Trump era, because constitutional

The Question of Implied Powers, Part VI: McCulloch v. Maryland, the Second Question

The Question of Implied Powers, Part V: McCulloch v. Maryland, the First Question