King George III was the King of Great Britain at the time of the American Revolutionary War—a successful war fought by English colonists determined to be free from the King’s rule. At the time of the war, the British people…
Category: Constitutional Law
2024
Category: Constitutional Law | Criminal Justice Reform | SCOTUS
The American Bar Association list Gideon V. Wainwright (1963) as one of the U.S. Supreme Court’s “landmark“ decisions. Gideon held that States must provide criminal defendants charged with serious crimes with an attorney if they cannot afford one. A serious…
2024
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, America was engaged in the intensely unpopular “Vietnam War.” America had joined forces with what was then South Vietnam in a joint effort to prevent Chinese-inspired “communism” from taking over Southeast Asia.
…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law | Criminal Justice Reform
America is enduring dark times these days.
Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice-presidential candidate and a state governor, calls for civil war and praises the jury-convicted insurrectionists with the racists paramilitary groups, the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, as “good…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law | Federal Criminal Law
The August 1, 2023 indictment of former President Donald J. Trump on four criminal charges related to repeated attempts to overthrow the 2020 presidential election results has triggered contentious public debate about the free speech rights guaranteed by the U.S.…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law
A cursory look over the past 55 years through ten presidential administrations reveals that the political divide in this country has intensified through each presidency. The past six years, through the presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have witnessed…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law | SCOTUS
The Chief Justice John Roberts-led U.S. Supreme Court will have another opportunity to modify or overrule a longstanding precedent issued by the Court before his tenure as Chief Justice.
The case before the Court, Samia v. United States, involves a…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law | SCOTUS
Federalist Paper #78, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, said the need for an “independent judiciary” was “designed to be an intermediate body between the people and their legislature.”
The primary responsibility of the judiciary then…
2023
Category: Constitutional Law | Federal Fraud | Foreign Corrupt Practices
In June 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its most recognized decision regarding criminal law, Miranda v. Arizona.
The decision established a significant Fifth Amendment Constitutional right: before the prosecution can use statements, either inculpatory or exculpatory, given by…
2023
Category: Appeals | Constitutional Law | Criminal Law
The legal question before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“CCA”) in a November 2, 2022 decision, State v. Hardin, was straightforward and constitutionally significant:
“Does a driver commit a traffic offense if the car’s right-rear tire briefly but safely…