“Money Is Not Speech.” Really?

“Money Is Not Speech.” At first, this phrase sounds so self-evident as to be almost indisputable. This phrase is currently riding a wave of popularity among the political classes, such that former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was greeted with praise for uttering this phrase during a … [Read more...]

Errors Galore in Centro Tepeyac v. Montgomery County

Centro Tepeyac, a pro-life center in Montgomery County (Mo Co), Maryland, is officially a First Amendment martyr.  On July 3, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in Centro Tepeyac v. Montgomery County that Mo Co can force Centro Tepeyac and other pro-life centers to post … [Read more...]

Health & Human Services: Religious Employers Still Ain’t “Religious”

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the free exercise [of religion.] The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently blew a chance to exempt any conscientious “religious employer,” such as Christian-owned Hobby Lobby, from HHS’ contraception/abortifacient … [Read more...]

I Got More Guns Than the KGB

This month, an organization called Defense Distributed discovered how to “print” a plastic pistol that really shoots. Defense Distributed, which is dedicated to preserving the right to keep and bear arms, used a 3-D printer to read a real pistol’s electronic blueprint and print out a plastic … [Read more...]

Avoiding Bloodshed? U.S. Journalists and Censorship in Wartime

“[Union journalists]…are the direct cause of more bloodshed than fifty times their number of armed Rebels.” -Union General William Sherman, 1863 Should the U.S. government or military censor wartime information in national security’s name? In my recently published article “Avoiding Bloodshed? US … [Read more...]

O Hobby Lobby, Art Thou a Religious Employer?

Last week, Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned chain, said it will defy the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)' contraception/abortifacient mandate.  The owners, who oppose abortifacients but not contraceptives, claim that the abortifacient part of the mandate violates the owners' and … [Read more...]

Dear O’Brien: The Free Exercise Clause and Professing Catholicism

Is the contraception/abortifacient mandate, brought to us by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), doomed? Last week, a U.S. federal appeals court, in an order involving O'Brien Industrial Holdings v. HHS, spared O'Brien, a Catholic employer, from the HHS mandate for the appeal's … [Read more...]

Centro Tepeyac: Pro-Lifers’ First Amendment Martyr?

The First Amendment: Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble... On February 2, 2010, the Montgomery County (Mo Co) Council in Maryland commanded Centro Tepeyac and other area pro-life centers to "post at least 1 … [Read more...]

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