Constitutional Law
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RE: TRUMP’S ILLEGAL TARIFFS
President Trump has now filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court, in which he basically argues that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (the “IEEPA”), 50 United States Code at Sections 1701 et. seq., fully authorizes him to declare that an “emergency” exists with origins in a foreign country, and then to impose… Continue reading
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RE: ICE Raids
In conducting raids against “illegal” immigrants, the federal government has admitted that its policy is to authorize the arrest, without a warrant, of “immigrants” reasonably suspected of being “illegal immigrants,” based upon 1) their “apparent ethnicity”, 2) the language they speak, 3)the accent they speak it with, and 4) their presence in a location commonly… Continue reading
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RE: Trump’s Tariffs
Early into his second term, President Trump invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“the IEEPA”), 50 United States Code Sections 1701 et.seq., to impose taxes on goods imported into the United States from other countries, i.e., tariffs. Last Friday, August 29, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, declared those… Continue reading
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RE: BANS OF SEX-CHANGE MEDICAL TREATMENT
Supreme Court decision of June 18, 2025: The United States Constitution prohibits a State, like Tennessee, from taking any action to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” U.S. Const., Amendment XIV, Section 1. In United States v. Skrmetti (US SupCt Slip Opinion of June 18, 2025), the United… Continue reading
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RE RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
June 5, 2025 The federal Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion . . . .” U.S. Const., Amendment I. It also provides that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the . . . immunities of citizens of the United States . . .… Continue reading
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RE: THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Those words of law, according to the United States Supreme Court, entitle every American citizen of age to… Continue reading
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Barnes v. Felix
decided May 15, 2025 In applying the Fourth Amendment’s (and the 14th Amendment’s) prohibition against “unreasonable searches and seizures” (U.S. Const. Amendment IV), several federal courts apply a rule known as the “Moment of Threat Rule,” in which the judge or the jury considering a police officer’s use of deadly force against a suspect may… Continue reading
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RE: Trump’s Venezuelan Gangs
In his effort to deport citizens of Venezuela who may be living in the United States illegally, President Trump has invoked the Alien Enemies Act, codified at 50 U.S.C. §§ 21-24. That Act authorizes the President to deport and even imprison “alien enemies” found in the United States after he has publicly proclaimed that an… Continue reading
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RE: ILLEGAL TARIFFS
The International Emergency Economic Powers Enhancement Act (the “IEEPA”) ostensibly authorizes the President of the United States to “regulate” the “importation” of goods from foreign countries. See 50 U.S.C. § 1702(a)(1)(B). Under the IEEPA, the President may issue “regulations” governing the importation of goods whenever he or she declares that a “national emergency,” emanating from… Continue reading
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RE: THE POWER TO TAX
Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers’ Research, Sup. Ct. Docket No. 24-354. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (the “FCC”) to fund its programs by charging “every telecommunications carrier” operating in interstate commerce an “equitable and nondiscriminatory” but otherwise unspecified amount of money. 47 U.S.C. §§ 254(b)(4) and 254(d). Those provisions clearly… Continue reading
CONSTITUTIONAL INTERPRETATIONS 