Constitution

Securing the Blessings of Liberty

by David S. D'Amato February 1, 2016

The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty by Timothy Sandefur (Cato Institute, 2014), 200 pages. In his book The Conscience of the Constitution: The Declaration of Independence and the Right to Liberty, Timothy Sandefur, an attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation and a Cato Institute adjunct scholar, argues that “the primacy ...

The Resurgence of Lochner

by David S. D'Amato December 1, 2015

Rehabilitating Lochner: Defending Individual Rights against Progressive Reform by David E. Bernstein (University of Chicago Press, 2012), 208 pages. David Bernstein begins his short book, Rehabilitating Lochner, by noting that “Lochner is likely the most disreputable case in modern constitutional discourse.” If you want to raise eyebrows in legal circles, he says, simply embark on ...

Supreme Demolition for the Raisin Racket

by James Bovard September 1, 2015

The December 2013 Future of Freedom contained my article “A Supreme Rebuff for USDA’s Ruinous Raisin Regime.” The legal case surrounding that controversy kept percolating in the courts for another 18 months. The Obama administration won a big victory in federal appeals court last year before getting squashed by the Supreme Court this past June. The Supremes put an ...

When the Supreme Court Stopped Economic Fascism in America

by Richard M. Ebeling July 1, 2015

There was a time when the Supreme Court of the United States defended and upheld the constitutional protections for economic liberty in America. This year marks the 80th anniversary of one of the Supreme Court’s finest hours, when it overturned Franklin Roosevelt’s agenda for economic fascism in the United States. The trend towards bigger and ever-more-intrusive government, unfortunately, was not ...

The Supreme Court’s Dreadful Record on Freedom

by James Bovard June 1, 2015

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the legality of the Affordable Care Act this past March. Several justices questioned whether a ruling against Obamacare would be “unconstitutionally coercive” to state governments that did not create health-care exchanges. The Supreme Court is sometimes hypersensitive about the authority of state governments when federalism issues are raised. But at the same ...

The Libertarian Angle: Trial by Jury

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 12, 2015

Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger discusses the hot topics of the day. This week, the folly of the minimum wage. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Podcast here.

Uniting Constitutional Protection for Economic and Social Liberties, Part 3: Can the Ninth Amendment Save Us?

by Steven Horwitz January 1, 2015

In part 2 of this series (December), I argued that unenumerated noneconomic rights such as those of parents or the right to marry are generally considered “fundamental rights” under the approach libertarian legal scholar Randy Barnett labels “Footnote Four-Plus.” That is, the rights of parents are nowhere enumerated in the Constitution including the Bill of Rights, but are nonetheless ...

Uniting Constitutional Protection for Economic and Social Liberties, Part 2: The Great Depression and the Great Divide

by Steven Horwitz December 1, 2014

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In part 1, I traced the evolution of “substantive due process” jurisprudence under which the Supreme Court protected a variety of unenumerated rights, both economic and personal, through the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Many of the unenumerated rights that had been protected ...

Uniting Constitutional Protection for Economic and Social Liberties, Part 1: Substantive Due Process and Unenumerated Rights

by Steven Horwitz November 1, 2014

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 We libertarians like to distinguish ourselves from our friends on the Right and Left by the fact that we care equally about both economic liberties and social/civil liberties. For libertarians the right to engage in contract and exchange with other consenting adults is just as important ...

Speaking on Liberty: Sheldon Richman Live! (video)

by Sheldon Richman October 24, 2013

Liberty Minded contributor Jason Lee Byas sits down with Sheldon Richman after his Constitution Day talk at The University of Oklahoma.  

From Articles of Confederation to Constitution (video)

by Sheldon Richman October 15, 2013

On September 17, 2013, FFF vice president and editor Sheldon Richman spoke at an event co-hosted by the University of Oklahoma Young Americans for Liberty and the Oklahoma University Students for a Stateless Society. Sheldon's talk was entitled "From Articles of Confederation to Constitution: Retreat for Liberty?"

TGIF: James Madison: Father of the Implied-Powers Doctrine

by Sheldon Richman July 26, 2013

James Madison famously wrote in Federalist 45: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined.” Strict constructionists are fond of this quote, and often cite it in defense of their view that the Constitution established a government of strictly limited powers. But did it? One way to approach ...