Ilya Somin is Professor of Law at George Mason University. His research focuses on constitutional law, property law, and the study of popular political participation.
Did you miss our recent Reddit AMA with Professor Sarah Burns of RIT’s political science department? You can find the whole conversation here, or check out some of the highlights below. Dr. Burns is a regular contributor to the Learn Liberty Blog, and starred in our series on America’s Founding. Adama82 Hi, thanks for […]
17 states have anti-protesting bills in the works. This is unconstitutional and antithetical to the principles of freedom.
Birthright citizenship aids both the assimilation and acceptance of immigrants and is largely responsible for our successful history of economic and cultural integration.
Obama deserves credit for helping to push the struggle for same-sex marriage to a successful conclusion, for appointing some highly capable judges (despite flaws in their judicial philosophy), and for causing the Supreme Court to establish some valuable precedents protecting federalism, property rights, and religious freedom (albeit, often unintentionally). On the other hand, we may well have occasion to rue his overly expansive approach to executive power, particularly when it comes to initiating wars without congressional authorization.
Trump’s executive order is exactly the kind of high-handed coercion of states that outraged conservatives under Obama.
Now that the Electoral College has made Trump’s 2016 win final, this a good time to start thinking about what powers he will have when he comes into office in January.
The Founders understood the incentive faced by Congress and the president to exceed the constitutional limits on their power.
So far, in 2016, he has granted 493. Consequently, the President’s current total for commutations (673 – almost all for drug offenders) is greater than that of several of his predecessors combined and more than any single president has granted since Calvin Coolidge.
Did you know that the Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution? Okay, maybe you did. But can you name all the amendments, and what they protect? You’re probably familiar with the First, Second, and Fifth Amendments, which are commonly referenced and protect free speech, the right to bear arms, and […]
You’ve probably heard the people use the phrase “I plead the Fifth,” either on television or when people, jokingly, don’t want to answer a question. You might not know that this is referring directly to