The U.S. Constitution

Can a President Rename Lake Ontario?

You can rename almost anything in Washington by simply deciding to call it something else. The harder question is whether anyone else is required to play along. That is the real constitutional story behind a recurring kind of controversy: reports that a president might try to rebrand a major...

Birth Tourism and the 14th Amendment: How Birthright Citizenship Works

You can feel the constitutional question hiding inside the headline: if someone flies to the United States late in pregnancy, gives birth, and leaves, did they just “exploit” a loophole or did they use a rule the Constitution itself writes in ink? That question is getting fresh attention after the...

Can Noncitizens Be on Voter Rolls?

Every election cycle seems to rediscover the same unsettling sentence: noncitizens on the voter rolls . Recently, the Republican National Committee said it warned New Jersey election officials that it may sue over records it claims show noncitizens on registration lists, with a compliance deadline...

Can Congress Subpoena Sanctuary City Prosecutors?

When members of Congress threaten subpoenas, it can sound like a simple question of muscle: Can Washington summon anyone, anywhere, and demand answers? The Constitution’s real answer is both more powerful and more limited. Congress has broad investigative authority as an implied incident of Article...

Can the President Restrict Mail-In Voting?

Mail-in voting can feel like a single national system because the envelopes look familiar and the Postal Service is federal. But constitutionally, elections are mostly not federal programs. They are state-run events with a federal overlay. That is why executive orders aimed at mail ballots often...

Can Trump Rename Lake Ontario With an Executive Order?

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on August 27, 2026 directing the federal government to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” and he framed it as taking effect “effective immediately.” The backlash was immediate too, including Canadian diplomatic pushback and a wave of corrections...

Guillotine Near the Capitol: What Police Can Search, Seize, and Charge

A strange object in public view can trigger very ordinary legal rules. This week, U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man after officers say they spotted a guillotine in the bed of a pickup truck parked illegally along East Capitol Street, not far from the U.S. Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the...

Florida Blocks TANF Cash on EBT for Tattoos, Theme Parks, Vapes, and More

Florida just drew a much brighter line around a familiar question: When the government gives cash assistance, does it get to decide what “counts” as an acceptable purchase? The state has updated the rules for its Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) program to block recipients from using cash benefits...

Court: Parents Can’t Lose Gun Rights Over Daughter’s Alleged Drawings

When people talk about the Second Amendment, the conversation often jumps straight to the big questions: bans, permits, and what the Supreme Court has said. But many real-life disputes are smaller and more personal, like what happens when police decide a household feels “volatile.” This week, a...

Supreme Court Stay Upends Mail-Ballot Injunction Fight

When the Supreme Court hits pause , it rarely feels like a simple pause. It changes the posture of a case, the leverage of the parties, and sometimes the behavior of the judge who thought she had the last word. That is the story behind this week’s whiplash in the litigation over new federal...

Appeals court rejects McIver’s immunity bid in ICE case

Members of Congress get real constitutional armor when they legislate. They do not get a free pass to do anything, anywhere, so long as they describe it as “oversight.” That is the basic premise behind a new federal appeals court decision declining to toss most of the criminal case against Rep....

A Supreme Court Justice Called It a ‘Kafkaesque Nightmare’

When a Supreme Court justice reaches for the phrase “Kafkaesque nightmare” , it is usually a signal that the normal tools of legal reasoning are colliding with something that feels both bewildering and hard to escape. That is exactly what happened this week, after an emergency Supreme Court...

Can States Ban Welfare Cash for Tattoos, Vapes, and Video Games?

You can feel the instinct behind policies like this: if public dollars are meant to keep families afloat, the state should be able to say they cannot be used for tattoos, vapes, theme park tickets, or a new game console. But here is the necessary clarification up front: despite a lot of...

What Power Does a State Attorney General Have Over Sheriff ICE Operations?

When immigration enforcement shows up on a county road, it can look simple: a deputy pulls a driver over, checks identity, calls ICE, and someone winds up in federal custody. But constitutionally, that one traffic stop can involve at least three governments at once: a local sheriff’s office, a...

Can a Member of Congress Be Prosecuted? Legislative Immunity Explained

Members of Congress write laws. They investigate. They hold hearings that can damage reputations. They give speeches that ignite national arguments. So it is natural to assume they are insulated from ordinary criminal prosecution. The Constitution does give them a kind of immunity. But it is...

A Justice Called It a ‘Kafkaesque Nightmare’

There are phrases you expect to see in a Supreme Court opinion: jurisdiction , standing , irreparable harm , maybe even equity . “Kafkaesque nightmare” is not usually on the list. And yet on Monday, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson put those words in writing, in a dissent tied to the Court’s emergency...

McIver’s Immunity Claim Takes a Hit in Newark ICE Case

There is a question I used to put to my civics students when we hit the “Speech or Debate” Clause in Article I: What, exactly, counts as doing your job in Congress ? This week, a federal appeals court handed down a blunt answer in the case of Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey. If the government’s...

3D-Printed Guns and the Law’s Cat-and-Mouse Problem

There is a familiar American rhythm to new technology. It expands individual power. Government tries to fence it in. People immediately look for the gaps in the fence. 3D-printed guns are living inside that rhythm right now. States are experimenting with a new idea: do not just punish illegal...

Judge Denies Minnesota Bid to Keep ICE Agent Christian Castro in Texas Jail

Minnesota’s effort to keep ICE agent Christian Castro locked up in Texas hit a wall this week, after a federal judge declined to step in with an emergency order. The ruling denies federal intervention, meaning Castro could be released when his Texas detention period expires Thursday if no rendition...

A ‘Kafkaesque Nightmare’ at the Supreme Court

When a sitting Supreme Court justice reaches for the phrase “Kafkaesque nightmare,” you should not treat it as rhetorical garnish. That is a flare shot into the sky. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson used those words in a dissent tied to the Court’s latest emergency decision involving mail-in voting...