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Inspired by a history class project and the events leading Snyder v. Phelps to the Supreme Court, high school senior Zach Parker is using the legislative process to ban protests from military funerals. Check out Cara Tucker’s post at the Harlan Institute blog. We’ve reached out to Zach, and hope to have an interview with him shortly. What an inspiration!

The Washington Post has this kinda-funny take on the Conservative Constitution. A few of my favorite provisions:

• Article I. Congress shall have only the powers literally, specifically and expressly granted herein, and no others. That means definitely, without question, absolutely, no regulation of the Health Insurance or Financial Services industries. This isn’t too much different from Article I, Section 1.
• Any law enacted by Congress and signed by the President may be overturned by the vote of three or more States if they find it burdensome, offensive, annoying or in any way touching on Health Insurance, Property Rights or Guns. Isn’t this Randy’s repeal amendment?
• 2. The right to bear Semi-Automatic Weapons, AK-47s or Bazookas shall not be infringed by background checks, safety locks, age limits or common sense. Oh silly Washington Post. Anti-gunners don’t seem to understand that a Semi-Automatic weapons are not assault weapons (whatever the heck those are anyway). In his McDonald dissent, Breyer asked what a semi-automatic gun is.
• 3. The right of Corporations, Hedge Funds, Business Leaders and Lobbyists to spend endless cash on campaigns and influence-purchasing shall not be infringed. The so-called right of Unions to associate shall be denied as fundamentally un-American and contrary to the agenda of the Chamber of Commerce. Kinda duplicative of the First Amendment, no? 😉
• 8. No White Male shall be denied equal protection of the law through Affirmative Action or otherwise. In keeping with the intent of the Framers, as discerned by the Honorable Justice Antonin Scalia, distinctions on the basis of sex shall not be deemed to deny equal protection. Oh silly Nino.
• 9. The right to be uninsured and make other people pay the costs of one’s Health Care shall not be infringed under any circumstances. This probably falls into the 9th amendment. Not sure if it is coincidental that the Post listed this one as #9.
• 12. No one may be required to do anything He or She does not want to do. Ever.  Amendment please.

Listen to the esteemed David Currie read the entirety of the United States Constitution. Takes about 50 minutes. I am debating assigning this MP3 as homework before the first class. H/T Chris Green on Facebook.

Congress just spent the last 90 minutes reading the entire Constitution. Wouldn’t it be cool if the Supreme Court did the same at the start of their term? Just think, Justice Thomas would speak from the bench! I imagine Justice Scalia would read the Second Amendment, and Justice Breyer would roll his eyes. And, we can get some pyrotechnic special effects to illustrate the penumbras emanating from the Bill of Rights! Hopefully the Court won’t skip over the Privileges or Immunities Clause. That would be fun.

Could Congress constitutionally mandate that by statute? Doubtful. Or better yet, could Congress mandate that the Court cite a specific provision of the Constitution when writing an opinion? No way in hell.

Check out this piece from the WSJ titled They Don’t Leave Home Without It: The Constitution as Political Pocket Protector. It turns out members of Congress are now keeping a pocket Constitution on their person at all times. Heh. I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve even chided others for failing to carry a Constitution.

The Constitution is like many things. But, it is like American Express. Never leave home without it. I usually leave two in every suit jacket. Frequently, when I bring suits to the Cleaners I have to remember to empty the pockets, lest our great charter be defiled by noxious cleansing chemicals.

I even have a collection of Constitutions autographed by Judges and scholars. Glad to see this trend is catching on.