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Culture-War Cases blog
What the Dobbs decision actually decided, step by step and in plain EnglishA plain-English walk through Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, from the Mississippi law to the vote, the test, the reasoning and what it left open.Antonin Scalia Sided With Flag Burners and Defendants, and That Is the PointThe justice who led the originalist revival often ruled against the outcome conservatives wanted, because the text required it. That made him trustworthy.A baker, a web designer and the line between customers and messagesA business open to the public must serve everyone, say critics. The answer turns on whether the law compels a person's service or a person's message.Seven Free Speech Myths, From Hate Speech to Shouting Fire in a TheaterHalf the arguments about free speech start from a rule that does not exist. Seven popular claims, tested against the cases, with a verdict on each.Why the government cannot tell a church who its ministers areThe ministerial exception comes from both religion clauses. Two unanimous-to-lopsided rulings, 2012 and 2020, explain who counts and why the rule has limits.Eight Supreme Court Cases That Explain What the First Amendment ProtectsA dated tour of eight free speech cases, from 1931 to 2011, with the facts and the rule each left behind. Most protected someone the majority disliked.The Living Constitution Sounds Reasonable Until You Ask Who Gets to Update ItThe living-constitution view is right that society changes, and Article V already answers who updates the text: the people, not nine judges.Two Ten Commandments cases on one day, opposite results, and the reasonOn June 27, 2005 the Court struck one Decalogue display and upheld another, both 5-4. The table shows what a county or school board can lawfully do.From Everson to Carson, the Court Cases That Opened the Door to ChoiceA dated timeline of the Supreme Court rulings from 1947 to 2022 on religious schools and school choice, and why each one mattered to a family.Why Heller got it right and the 'militia only' reading falls apartThe Stevens dissent in Heller at full strength, answered point by point: why the individual-right reading is the right one.Where 'a wall of separation' really comes from and what it was built forThe phrase comes from a short 1802 letter to a Baptist minority, and it never meant scrubbing faith out of public life. Here is the paper trail.