Federalist No. 4 is a continuation of John Jay's arguments for consolidation of the federal government and the increased security derived from it. There is an interesting bit about the predilections of absolute monarchs that are still relevant today.   Read the rest of this entry »

Not everyone comes from the same set of assumptions. It's really tough to communicate without some kind of common ground. Here we answer the question, "what would the founders think (and why we should care)?"   Read the rest of this entry »

John Jay wrote Federalist No. 2, which provides a nice respite to Hamilton's more complicated prose. In it he discusses the, then radical proposition that everyone saw the importance of Union vs dis-Union.   Read the rest of this entry »

Federalist 83 singles out opposition to the new Constitution due to the lack of a clause requiring jury trials in civil cases. It is the final paper on the judiciary and the longest of the Federalist essays.   Read the rest of this entry »

Federalist No. 1 is among the clearest of Hamilton's essays. There are no legal terms, no confusing references to events or anti-Federalist objections addressed. In this first Federalist, Hamilton sets the stage for subsequent essays.   Read the rest of this entry »

Is the Justice Department, at the behest of political appointees, selectively enforcing law? Recent actions provide glaring evidence to support this possibility.   Read the rest of this entry »

Hamilton may have gotten it wrong in Federalist 81. Old and new essays explain the dangers of judicial activism.   Read the rest of this entry »

Federalist No. 81 is a continuation of Nos. 78, 79, and 80 on the structure of the judiciary. The particular topic in this essay is the organization of the federal judiciary with respect in particular to the Supreme Court. This essay is written almost entirely in rebuttal to an excellent anti-Federalist paper written by Brutus on the same topic.   Read the rest of this entry »

Federalist No. 80 is a continuation of No. 78 and No. 79 on the structure of the judiciary. The particular topic in this essay is the proper scope of operation and jurisdiction for the federal judiciary.   Read the rest of this entry »

Federalist No. 78 is a defense and justification of the structure of the judiciary branch. This is an attempt to distill Hamilton's prose into 21st Century terms.   Read the rest of this entry »