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David French is Senior Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice and a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

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Weighing Publius' Constitutional Morality

by H. Lee Cheek, Jr.
Yet another academic book on The Federalist? While many scholars would agree with Clinton Rossiter that The Federalist is a sacred text for American politics and constitutional law, others have…

Through-a-Screen-Darkly-Popular-Culture-Public-Diplomacy-and-Americas-Image-Abroad-Hardcover-P9780300123388

Instead, We Played Music

by Robert Reilly
Reflecting on waning American influence in his country as shown by a recent poll, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble sarcastically said: “Perhaps now more of those in power in the…

The Unlawful Administrative State: A Conversation with Philip Hamburger

A discussion with Philip Hamburger

The standard narrative used to justify the existence of the administrative state and thus legitimate its powers is that America in the late 19th and…

The Ascent of Originalism: A Conversation with Michael Rappaport

A discussion with Mike Rappaport

The many schools of originalism all face the same questions: does it merely perpetuate the dead hand of the past? What about the exclusion of…

The Revised Version of American Religious Freedom: A Conversation with Steven Smith

A discussion with Steven D. Smith

This next episode of Liberty Law Talk is with Steven Smith on his new book The Rise and Decline of American Religious Freedom. Our conversation…

Herbert Hoover's Righteous Crusade Against the New Deal: A Conversation with George Nash

A discussion with George H. Nash

Herbert Hoover's legacy is perhaps forever linked with the failure of the American economy under his presidency after the stock market crash of 1929 and…

A Star is Torn

In the Energy Star Program, the Energy Department rates energy-efficient and otherwise green appliances. The New York Times has reported that government officials in charge of Energy Star did not do a good job of monitoring compliance with the program’s …
by David French
Originalism and Positivism: The Problem of Interpretive Contestation

I have written various posts about originalism and positivism. Perhaps the academic who has written the most about interpretive approaches and positivism is Matt Adler from Duke, but I have relatively neglected his articles. It is not a mistake I …
by David French
The Deflation of Rights

Print up a bunch of money, and the value of money is almost sure to decline. Make up a host of new rights and the value of rights is likely to plummet as well. As our modern experience demonstrates. Simplifying, …
by David French
The Thirteenth Amendment as a Conservative Counterrevolution

In “If Slavery Is Not Wrong, Nothing Is Wrong,” I proposed that the Civil War was fought to restore the original unity of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and that the Thirteenth Amendment, adopted in 1865, was …
by David French
Where are Special Interests When You Need Them? The Problem of Unwanted Phone Calls

One problem with the political decisions, including those in a democracy, is the importance of special interests. Special or politically concentrated interests have an advantage in the political process and therefore are able to obtain special privileges and advantages that …
by David French

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