Free Republic

The Constitution’s first amendment after the Bill of Rights represented the first use of congressional power to contradict a Supreme Court decision. The case of Chisholm v. Georgia in 1793 was the first significant decision handed down by the Court, and it was so controversial that lawmakers moved quickly to nullify its findings. The controversy had its roots in the Revolutionary War. In 1777, the Executive Council of Georgia authorized the purchase of needed supplies from a South Carolina businessman. After receiving the supplies, Georgia didn’t pay as promised. After the merchant’s death, the executor of his estate, Alexander Chisholm,...

Political observers are falling over themselves trying to determine the cladistics of a newly-emergent population of political animal, the Rudy booster. This appears to be the first new species of Republican to emerge in over two decades in the Family Republicanae (the last being Conservatisi reagani), and displays a particularly odd range of behaviors that call into question the long-term political viability of the new species, as well as that of Republicanae in general if they assume a position of dominance. Some observers have proposed classifying the new population as a subspecies of Rinous rockefelleri, whereas others have made a...

U.S. Supreme Court PLYLER v. DOE, 457 U.S. 202 (1982) 457 U.S. 202 PLYLER, SUPERINTENDENT, TYLER INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT, ET AL. v. DOE, GUARDIAN, ET AL. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT No. 80-1538. Argued December 1, 1981 Decided June 15, 1982 * (a) The illegal aliens who are plaintiffs in these cases challenging the statute may claim the benefit of the Equal Protection Clause, which provides that no State shall "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Whatever his status under the immigration laws, an alien is...