Constitution

The Constitution and Foreign Policy

by Bart Frazier July 1, 2007

Protecting the country from invasion and securing individual rights are two of the vital functions of the federal government. At the same time the government is the greatest threat to our freedom. This was the subject of FFF’s June conference, “Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties.” An underlying theme, touched on by every ...

Speaker Spotlight: Ron Paul and Andrew Napolitano

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 4, 2007

This week we spotlight Congressman Ron Paul and Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Andrew Napolitano, our two Sunday dinner speakers for our upcoming June 1-4 conference Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties in Reston, Virginia. If there is a genuine hero of our time with respect to the advancement of liberty, it is Ron Paul. The ...

An Open Letter to High-School Students: Pay Attention to Government

by Bart Frazier March 1, 2007

To every high-school student in this country between the ages of 15 and 18, this letter is to you. If there is ever something that you should take the time to learn about, it is government. Why? — you ask. If your idea of government is endless babbling by old congressional ...

Habeas Corpus: The Lynchpin of Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 11, 2006

In the recently enacted Military Commissions Act, Congress acceded to President Bush’s request to remove the power of federal courts to consider petitions for writ of habeas by foreign citizens held by U.S. officials on suspicion of having committed acts of terrorism. While it might be tempting to conclude that ...

Liberty, Power, and the Constitution

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2006

A few years ago, I was delivering a lecture on the Constitution to an assembly consisting of a couple hundred high-school students. I made the following observation, which threw the students into an uproar: “The First Amendment to the Constitution does not give people the right to free speech.” Immediately, I was pummeled by criticisms from all across the ...

A Democratic Dictatorship

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 2006

Amidst all the discussion and debate about whether President Bush has violated the law by ordering the National Security Agency (NSA) to record telephone conversations, we must not overlook an important fact: the United States is now traveling in uncharted waters, ones in which the ruler of the nation is exercising omnipotent power over the American people. A more ...

Bush’s Bogus Theory of Absolute Power

by James Bovard April 7, 2006

The Bush administration has a theory to explain why the Founding Fathers secretly intended for the president to have boundless power. Even though the new unitary executive theory is nowhere in the Constitution, White House officials continually invoke it to justify scorning federal law. The fact that the administration is getting away with this charade symbolizes how docile much ...

American Democracy Indicted

by Anthony Gregory April 1, 2006

Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 291 pages. “If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention.” So says a popular bumper sticker. Indeed, those of us who have been paying attention to the political scene for ...

Misguided Democracy

by George Leef March 1, 2006

Attention Deficit Democracy by James Bovard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006); 288 pages; $26.95. One of Winston Churchill’s most famous quips is that democracy is the worst form of government — except for all the others. The supposition behind the “except” clause is that ...

Attention Deficit Democracy

by James Bovard January 27, 2006

The following is the introduction to James Bovard’s new book, Attention Deficit Democracy. The forms of our free government have outlasted the ends for which they were instituted, and have become a mere mockery of the people for whose benefit they should operate. — “Americus” Delusions about democracy ...

Freedom and the Fourteenth Amendment

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2005

One of the long-standing debates within the libertarian movement involves the Fourteenth Amendment. Some argue that it is detrimental to the cause of freedom because it expands the power of the federal government. Others contend that the amendment expands the ambit of individual liberty. I fall among those who ...

More Bush Insults

by Sheldon Richman October 12, 2005

Everybody is good at something, and George Bush is good at insulting our intelligence. As if he hasn’t provided enough evidence, he recently obliged with two more demonstrations. First came his nomination of White House counsel Harriet Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court. By picking Miers he is telling the American people she ...