“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
Dan Smyth | August 12, 2013
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”
Dan Smyth | July 15, 2013
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
Dan Smyth | May 20, 2013
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
Dan Smyth | April 10, 2013
“[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...]
Should Religion Influence Government?
Paul Wilson | March 13, 2013
As a Catholic social conservative, my ideological opponents often accuse me of “forcing my religious views on others.” Of course, my opponents are wrong, since I don’t seek to make Catholic teachings the laws of the land. After all, according to the First Amendment such an imposition would be … [Read more...]
O Hobby Lobby, Art Thou a Religious Employer?
Dan Smyth | January 3, 2013
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
Dan Smyth | December 10, 2012
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?
Dan Smyth | July 16, 2012
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...]
