Trump v. Anderson has been decided by a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on the question of whether the Supreme Court of Colorado erred in requiring GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump to be excluded from the primary ballot. The Supreme Court, in a … Continue reading
John A. Sparks
Time to Throw Chevron Overboard: Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo
Suppose that you owned a manufacturing business for which the government prescribed certain production regulations, and suppose, further, that the government demanded that you provide office space for a federal observer to monitor your operation. Finally, suppose that the government … Continue reading
The Puzzling Jurisprudence of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. Retired Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor died Dec. 1 in her home state of Arizona, at the age of 93. Justice O’Connor was the first … Continue reading
Reining in Public Accommodations Laws: 303 Creative v. Elenis
When Lorie Smith, owner of a Colorado website design business, thought about expanding her business to include websites for those planning traditional weddings (one man and one woman), she was understandably concerned that such a business expansion could put her … Continue reading
The Court Bolsters Property Rights: Sackett and Tyler
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. In its last three terms, the Supreme Court has received a great deal of public attention — both positive and negative — due to its decisions on human sexuality (Bostock, Zarda) and … Continue reading
A Postman “Carries the Mail” for Religious Liberty: Groff v. LeJoy
In January 2019, Gerald Groff left the Holtwood Post Office in the small rural community of Holtwood, Pennsylvania, located in Lancaster County. When he left, he figured it was likely for good. He resigned his mail carrier position there because … Continue reading
Remittances: Private Sector Transfers Overcome World Poverty
Did you celebrate the “International Day of Family Remittances” this year? Probably not. If you’re like most Americans, the word “remittance” is foreign to you. However, to families in countries around the world, remittances are lifelines that help them overcome … Continue reading
The 10-Year Fight of a Courageous Baker: Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop
In 1950, Eileen Barton’s rendition of “If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake” became #1 on the Billboard charts. Until 2012, that song might well have been Colorado baker Jack Phillips’ favorite. But in that year, … Continue reading
Racial Admissions Preferences: Constitutional or Not?
Should the race of a minority student who is applying to a college or university give him or her a decided preference over other applicants? This is the question that a group of college-bound students and their parents are asking … Continue reading
Colorado Wedding Artists Muzzled: 303 Creative v. Elenis
The October term of the U.S. Supreme Court has begun. The previous term yielded some “blockbuster” decisions, and the new term seems likely to produce more of the same. One of these is the case 303 Creative v. Elenis. Lorie … Continue reading
The Dobbs Case: Justice Alito Leads the Court Back to the Constitution
Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization holds that both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey must be overturned. The predicted impact on elective abortions has been well-rehearsed in the print and electronic … Continue reading
Carson v. Makin: A Trilogy of Cases Protecting Religious Liberty, Completed
In 2017, the Supreme Court decided a case that involved a school playground resurfacing program provided by the state of Missouri. Trinity Lutheran School sought a state grant, which was generally offered to other schools, but Trinity was denied funding … Continue reading
Griswold v. Connecticut: How We Got to Roe v. Wade
The Supreme Court will soon issue its opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns a Mississippi law preventing elective abortions beyond 15 weeks gestation. I am not here commenting about the leaked draft opinion. That action was … Continue reading
The Supreme Court Renders Mixed Decisions on the Vaccine Mandates
The U. S. Supreme Court has rejected President Joe Biden’s OSHA vaccination overreach for private sector employees, but has upheld the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate for healthcare workers. The decisions are important for their immediate effects. The OSHA-related … Continue reading
A Primer on the Vaccine Mandate: A Case of Federal Overreach
Whether you have strong convictions against vaccines, or just about the Covid vaccine, or you have no particular aversion to vaccines, understanding what is going on with President Joe Biden’s OSHA-enforced vaccine mandate is important. The OSHA (Occupational Safety and … Continue reading
Parental educational rights and religious liberty: the Yoder case revisited
Throughout the country, parents are concerned that some public schoolboards, administrators, and associations hold them in disdain and fear their input when they raise legitimate questions about the direction of their local schools. Just short of 50 years ago (1972), … Continue reading
Religious Liberty After Fulton: Protected or Precarious?
Sharonell Fulton had fostered 40 children over a 25-year period through Catholic Social Services (CSS), a private agency which conducted “home study” reviews of prospective foster parents. CSS operated under the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In March 2018, the city … Continue reading
Court Packing 2.0: Why the Supreme Court should not be changed
Six months ago, the idea of expanding the size of the U.S. Supreme Court was side-stepped by presidential candidate Joe Biden, and the issue seemed to wane. But now, “court packing” has surfaced once again—and in two forms. The first … Continue reading
A Victory for Campus Religious Liberty: The Case of Chike Uzuegbunam
Chike Uzuegbunam was a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, a public institution in Lawrenceville, Georgia, when he decided to witness about his Christian faith to fellow students on campus. He could not have anticipated that expressing his religious beliefs to … Continue reading
On the Impeachment and Conviction of President Trump
The House of Representatives, with the sole responsibility of impeachment, has passed a single Article of Impeachment charging President Donald Trump with committing a high crime, namely that he “made statements that encouraged—and foreseeably resulted in—imminent lawless action at the … Continue reading