Columns

McCulloch v. Maryland: Why we have implied powers By David Adler By virtually every measurement, McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ranks as Chief Justice John Marshall’s greatest opinion, and, in the…...

Cooper v. Aaron: Striking down nullification, again By David Adler In 1958, in Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court, ensnared in the white-hot cauldron of southern resistance to federal authority,…...

By David Adler The Federalist Papers, it has been said, constitute one of the most important works in the world of political science ever written in the history of the…...

By David Adler Skeptics of the federal judiciary’s authority to declare laws unconstitutional have expressed doubts and concerns ever since the Supreme Court, in Marbury v. Madison (1803), first exercised…...

By David Adler The first landmark ruling delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court was Marbury v. Madison (1803), in which Chief Justice John Marshall asserted the power of judicial review,…...

Christmas Meditation by Fr. Roger A. Synek As Christmas is just around the corner, let’s use one of St. Ignatius’ meditation techniques and ponder what that first Christmas might have…...

Why we study landmark judicial decisions By David Adler The yearlong commitment of this column to the exploration of the Constitution has focused, primarily, on historical explanations of the aims…...

Court’s creation of Executive Privilege without foundation By David Adler The Supreme Court’s historic rejection in U.S. v. Nixon (1974) — “The Watergate Tapes Case” — of President Richard Nixon’s…...