New “CI-116” Ruling Shows the Montana Supreme Court Likely Remains the Most “Activist” in the U.S.

New “CI-116” Ruling Shows the Montana Supreme Court Likely Remains the Most “Activist” in the U.S.

Note: This is a two part version similar to the single-part essay immediately below. At the request of the Missoulian newspaper, which published it, I expanded it into two parts. This version explains more, so it is probably more useful to non-lawyers. Part I. The Montana Supreme Court has a history of striking down constitutional initiatives that restrain government power. Voiding CI-116 (“Marsy’s Law”) is only the latest example. The court treated CI-116 the same way it treated CI-23, CI-27,…

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The Montana Supreme Court’s Demonstrable Bias Against “Conservative” Voter Initiatives

The Montana Supreme Court’s Demonstrable Bias Against “Conservative” Voter Initiatives

This article first appeared in the Great Falls Tribune. The Montana Supreme Court has a history of striking down constitutional initiatives that restrain government power. Voiding CI-116 (“Marsy’s Law”) is only the latest example. The court treated CI-116 the same way it treated CI-23, CI-27, CI-30, and CI-75. A 2012 Montana Policy Institute report documented the tribunal’s handling of ballot measures over three decades. Every measure expanding government power survived the Montana Supreme Court. Almost every measure restraining government died…

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Activists Can Spend Their Time Better Than Trying to Resurrect the Long-Dead “Equal Rights Amendment”

Activists Can Spend Their Time Better Than Trying to Resurrect the Long-Dead “Equal Rights Amendment”

This article first appeared in The Hill. Left-of-center activists are prodding state lawmakers to waste public time “ratifying” a constitutional amendment that, by its very terms, is long dead and can no longer be ratified. Earlier this year they even convinced the Nevada legislature to sign on to their campaign. They should use their time and energy more wisely by campaigning for amendments that are both feasible and would make life better. One such amendment was proposed by James Madison and approved by Congress…

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First In A Series: John Dickinson Comes Into Prominence

First In A Series: John Dickinson Comes Into Prominence

This is the first of a five-part series on Founding Father John Dickinson, who published his highly influential “Farmer Letters” exactly 250 years ago. The series was first published by the Washington Post’s blog, The Volokh Conspiracy. This year marks the 250th anniversary of one of the most influential series of writings in American history. The series was John Dickinson’s Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. The “letters” were twelve newspaper essays, the first of which was published in November,…

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An Amendments Convention is a “Convention of the States”—Here’s the Proof

An Amendments Convention is a “Convention of the States”—Here’s the Proof

Some opponents of holding a convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution still claim the nature and composition of an amendments convention is a “mystery.” That claim has not been viable for several years now, but it certainly is no longer viable with the publication of the copious evidence that an amendments convention is simply a convention of the states—a kind of meeting that has happened many times in our history, and whose protocols and composition are well understood….

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