Free Republic

Abortion, religion, and race were the three intractable constitutional law conundrums of the second half of the 20th century. Back in the 1960s and ’70s, the justices of the Warren and Burger Supreme Courts felt compelled to step in and resolve them, though their constitutional warrant so to do was anything but clear. As readers of this magazine are well aware, for decades American society has been roiled by what we are slowly coming to see as the Supreme Court’s unwarranted judicial audacity—if not impudence, arrogance, and illegitimacy. Since Richard Nixon’s campaign in 1968, Republicans have been seeking to...

Legal conservatives find themselves in an unusual position: originalism has reached unprecedented acceptance within the judiciary and the bar. A majority of Supreme Court justices—including at least one appointed by a Democratic president—identify as originalists, or at least strive toward originalism. Guided by the original understanding of those who ratified the Constitution and the Reconstruction Amendments, the High Court has overruled Roe v. Wade, ended the use of race in higher education, and recognized the individual right to own firearms. But some find these successes disorienting. Originalism’s victories have triggered an important debate among conservatives. Some wonder if originalism is...

Could the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) protection of the National Firearms Act (NFA) in Silencer Shop v BATF be a tactical move to bring the case to the Supreme Court? The Supreme Court case United States v Windsor upended centuries of precedent and jurisprudence in the United States by finding a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional. The Obama administration played a key part in this policy shift by claiming the act was constitutional, thus protecting “standing” in the case. Later, the Obama DOJ switched sides and agreed with Windsor that the Defense of...

The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments in a case that will determine if President Donald Trump can undo automatic citizenship for people born in the United States. Trump, on his first day back in the White House on Jan. 20, issued an executive order that said babies born in the U.S. more than 30 days after that order were not entitled to be issued citizenship documents if their parents were temporary visitors or illegal aliens.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Trump v. Slaughter, the case challenging limitations on the President's ability to remove members of the Federal Trade Commission. In resolving this question, the Court will consider whether to narrow or overrule Humphrey's Executor. Perhaps to aid in the Court's deliberations, today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided the combined cases of Harris v. Bessent and Wilcox v. Trump, concerning the limitations on removal of members of the Merit System Protection Board and National Labor Relations Board. In Harris, a divided panel concluded that the President...

Licenses Delayed, Rights Denied is a scholarly article that informs readers of the means six outlier states use to deny ordinary citizens their rights to keep and bear arms. The article is another excellent example of scholarship by Mark Smith, member of the Supreme Court Bar, distinguished Second Amendment scholar, and host of the Four Boxes Diner on YouTube. He is also a contributor at AmmoLand.com. The article has been published in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Per Curiam, Fall of 2025, No. 23. The six states that are actively working to undermine the Bruen methodology are...

Since the late 19th century, school yearbooks have been a ubiquitous and mostly unchanging element of American school life. Decade after decade, they deliver a predictable mix of class, club, and team photos, cheesy graphics, and cringey comments. But the most consistent feature of yearbooks may be what they don’t include—references to political upheaval or resistance movements. As public schools across the United States face heightened censorship and the threat of funding losses for noncompliance, school yearbooks remind us that there is nothing new about political censorship in schools. A few rare examples also reveal that there some students and...

Justice Elena Kagan emerged as an unexpected critic of New Jersey’s position Tuesday as the Supreme Court weighed whether a faith-based crisis pregnancy center may challenge a state subpoena in federal court. Her pointed questioning suggested she may join the court’s conservatives in siding with First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, which argues that New Jersey’s investigation threatens its First Amendment rights. Why It Matters The case stems from a subpoena issued by Democratic Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s consumer-protection division, seeking information from First Choice—including a list of its donors—as part of a probe into whether the center misled women about...

A lot of "lawfare" coming out of Brazil these days. It reminds me of an earlier time when Frank Sinatra sang about that huge country in South America and their obsession with coffee: "The politician's daughter Was accused of drinkin' water And was fined a great big fifty dollar bill They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil." Yes, it was more of fun to sing about coffee or maybe do that famous bossa nova that you see in the carnival.Things are looking a little familiar down in Brazil. Opposition politicians going after the former president, who is planning...

WASHINGTON — Libby Hilsenrath’s eight-year odyssey to protect her son from what she considered unconstitutional religious indoctrination has reached the final chapter. Last week, the Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed a Reply Brief on her behalf — the final written plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse lower court decisions which affirmed Chatham Middle School teaching seventh grade students: “May God help us all find the true faith, Islam.” Libby Hilsenrath, reflecting on the uncertainty of the High Court’s weighty decision, commented: “This is the path God...

The fight is between two people who never married but whose daughter now is nearly a teen. And the coming decision by the Maine Supreme Court will determine if judges in that state can simply overturn the constitutional religious rights of parents. The battle has been outlined by Liberty Counsel, which explained the judge’s trial court ruling in the dispute between mother and father is well into the extreme range, or beyond. For example, the judge ruled that the custodial mother “is a fit parent EXCEPT for the fact that she is a Christian.” The war erupted over the non-custodial...

The Supreme Court has rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The justices on Monday turned away an appeal...WASHINGTON(AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a call to overturn its landmark decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The justices, without comment, turned away an appeal from Kim Davis, the former Kentucky court clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the high court's 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.Davis had been trying to get the court to overturn a lower-court order for her to pay $360,000 in damages and attorney's...

The court agreed to hear the matter after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the law in 2024. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a case addressing whether states may count ballots that arrive after Election Day. The Republican National Committee and Mississippi Libertarian Party challenged the state's law permitting the counting of ballots postmarked by Election Day should they arrive within five days, Politico reported. The court agreed to hear the matter after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the law in 2024. President Donald Trump, for his part, has long been a...

On Nov. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider taking up a landmark case that could redefine the meaning of parental rights in public education. The case, Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County, has the potential to impact every classroom in the United States..

Beginning at 9:30 a.m., we will be live blogging as the court hears oral arguments in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump.

(Oct. 26, 2025) — INTRODUCTION Well, well, well… some sanity and rational thought may at last be seeping into the question and analysis of the so-called “birthright citizenship” issue under the 14th Amendment. As discussed by your humble servant earlier this year here, the 14th Amendment birthright citizenship issue is different, but closely related, to the “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) issue under Art. 2, § 1, Cl. 5, the Constitution’s “Eligibility Clause.” Because that which follows may become convoluted, readers may wish to keep a supply of their favorite caffeinated beverage nearby. As a preliminary matter, that clause, of course,...

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell has ruled that Planned Parenthood affiliates in California, Iowa, and New York do not have to comply with recent executive orders requiring them to affirm biological sex and discontinue the promotion of radical gender ideology and promiscuity in order to receive federal funding Key Takeaways: * Despite multiple Trump executive orders specifying otherwise, a district judge has ruled that certain Planned Parenthood affiliates in three states do not have to rid their sex ed curricula of radical gender ideology. * The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program has been shown in the past to have failed to...

The Supreme Court of South Carolina The State, Respondent, v. Stephen Corey Bryant, Appellant Appellate Case No. 2008-103130 The Honorable Thomas A. Russo Richland, Sumter County Trial Court Case No. 2004GS4010096, 2006GS4300696, 2006GS4300699 Execution Notice To the honourable Joel E. Anderson, Interim Director of the South Carolina Department of Corrections: This is to notify you that the sentence of death imposed in the above case from which an appeal has been taken has been affirmed and finally disposed of by the Supreme Court of South Carolina and the remittiur has been sent to the Clark of the Court of General...

Many experts are forecasting the end of a key provision of election law — enabling Republicans to shore up their advantage in the House, according to a new report. Democratic voting rights groups are preparing for a nightmare scenario if the Supreme Court guts a key part of the landmark civil rights-era legislation, the Voting Rights Act — a very real possibility this term. Ahead of the court’s Oct. 15 rehearing of Louisiana v. Callais — a case that has major implications for the VRA — two voting rights groups are sounding the alarm, warning that eliminating Section 2, a...

A far-left lunatic fashioned at least 200 improvised explosive devices out of homemade materials and planned to unleash a series of terrorist attacks across Washington, D.C., authorities said after arresting the man on Tuesday. The deranged New Jersey resident had reportedly filled a tent with what the Metropolitan District Police described as “grenades” readied for detonation at the annual Red Mass gathering of Christians this week. A notebook left behind by the man was filled with hate-filled scrawls against justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, who already confirmed they would not be attending the appeal to their faith out of...