Constitutional Law
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FEDERAL TAX ON UNREALIZED INCOME CONSTITUTIONAL
The United States Constitution has, since 1788, prohibited the federal government from imposing a “direct […] Tax” “unless in the Proportion to the Census of Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.” U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9. In 1913, the Constitution was amended to allow the United States to tax “incomes, from whatever source Continue reading
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CITY OF GRANTS PASS V. JOHNSON, U.S. Sup. Ct. Slip Op. of June 28, 2024
The Court’s Ruling: The Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the United States Constitution does not prohibit the enactment or the enforcement of laws that authorize the punishment of people who sleep on publicly owned land, not even of people who have no choice in doing so, i.e., homeless people. By a 6-3 vote, Continue reading
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DAMAGES NOT AVAILABLE TO VICTIMS OF INEQUAL FEES IMPOSED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution empowers Congress, inter alia, “To establish . . . uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States. . . .” In United States Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, decided on June 14, 2024, the Court ruled that the remedy for a Continue reading
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STATES CAN BE LIABLE FOR VIOLATING FREE SPEECH RIGHTS THROUGH NON-SPEAKING INTERMEDIARIES
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law. . . abridging the freedom of speech . . ..” The 14th Amendment extends that prohibition to the states of the Union in general. See U.S. Const., Amendment XIV, § 1. In National Rifle Association v. Vullo, decided on May Continue reading
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DISCRIMINATORY REAPPORTIONMENT PLAN APPROVED
Section 1 of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that “No State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” In Alexander v. NAACP, decided on May 23, 2024, the Court reversed a trial court decision that found South Carolina’s reapportionment of two Continue reading
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FUNDING MECHANISM FOR UNIQUE FEDERAL AGENCY CONSTITUTIONAL
The “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” created a new federal agency called the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “BCFP”). The statute financed the BCFP’s operations by allowing the agency to draw an unspecified amount of money from an account already accumulated by the Federal Reserve Board from fees and charges the Continue reading
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TEXAS LAW AUTHORIZES FEDERAL “JUST COMPENSATION” CLAIMS IN TEXAS COURTS
The Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution implicitly incorporates the first eight amendments to the United States Constitution (i.e., the federal “Bill of Rights”) and requires their application to state governments throughout the United States. The Fifth Amendment prohibits the “tak[ing]” of “private property without just compensation.” Many state constitutions, including that of Texas, contain Continue reading
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ACHESON HOTELS V. LAUFER, 601 US 1 (2023)
The Court’s Ruling: When the underlying “original jurisdiction”[1] case becomes moot on account of the plaintiff’s binding withdrawal of her claims therein, the Supreme Court may dismiss its case arising therefrom for lack of jurisdiction and require the intermediate Court of Appeals to dismiss its own “appellate jurisdiction”[2] case on the same ground. By a Continue reading
RECENT RULINGS 