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The Supreme Court’s June 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision held that the fundamental right to marry extends to same-sex couples, a small minority of Americans. Among other things, the new right includes constitutionally guaranteed rights of inheritance and parental status for children. An objective assessment of the impact of the Obergefell decision on religious freedom indicated that, despite contrary assertions from same-sex marriage (“SSM”) opponents, burdens on religious freedoms are low a

For nearly two hundred years, voting has predominantly been tied to fixed residency: citizens are entitled to vote in the districts in which they live. While seemingly a fair and direct application of the principle, "one person, one vote," property owners are beginning to assert that their ownership of property in voting districts outside the one in which they live justifies extending them the right to vote in these districts as well. So, does the right to vote – and should the right to vote –

Election Day 2015 has come and gone, and voters in cities in six states again found that they were not limited to marking only one candidate, but had the ability to rank the candidates in order of choice. Voters had the chance to vote with ranked choice voting in the following city elections: * San Francisco, CA * Telluride, CO * Saint Paul, MN * Takoma Park, MD * Portland, ME * Cambridge, MA That expansion of voter power is not a miracle cure-all for our democracy, but has clear positiv

When it comes to strengthening election laws to eliminate voter fraud, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R) has captured headlines for years. He has helped several states, including Arizona, develop their own voting laws--and recently pushed the Kansas legislature to give him prosecutorial powers over election fraud cases.While critics claim this is a duplication of powers, with local prosecutors having the same duties and responsibilities, Kobach claimed at the signing ceremony in June th

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) promised Tuesday to filibuster a budget compromise bill that enjoys the support of the White House and Republican congressional leadership. The bill would raise the nation’s $18.1 trillion debt limit, increase domestic spending by $80 billion over 2 years, and add $32 billion to an emergency war fund, according to The New York Times. The Washington Post notes that Senator Paul, who called the bill a “steaming pile of legislation,” said at a Tuesday appearance at the

Republican presidential candidates are gathering in Boulder, Colorado for the next GOP debate titled, "Your Money, Your Vote." The debate will air Wednesday, October 28, on CNBC at 8 pm ET. Similar to the first two debates, there will be a lower-tier debate at 6 pm ET. The same candidates who participated in CNN's top tier debate will participate in the CNBC debate (minus Scott Walker), including: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina

We've all heard metaphors about sending people to jail. “Don't drop the soap." “Big Bubba will like your purty mouth.” Many people find these metaphors humorous. This is odd, for it seems like those people do not find sexual assault to be cruel or unusual punishment. Cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited by the Constitution. In Furman v. Georgia, Justice Brennan wrote that there were 4 criteria that need to be used in order to determine if a punishment is cruel and unusual: 1. A punishmen

Rand Paul, once considered the GOP’s savior after two grueling presidential election losses, has fallen on some hard times. Paul was labelled by the media as a front-runner or top-tier candidate months before he officially entered the presidential race on April 7. Now nearly at the 6-month mark, the early stages of the Republican presidential primary changed the game and showed some chinks in Paul’s armor. Paul had two remarkable filibusters to blast drone use and NSA spying, stances that buck

In August, Jason Olson, director of Independentvoice.org, and Dr. Omar Ali, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and expert scholar on populist political movements, published a study called, A Quiet Revolution: The Early Success of California's Top Two Nonpartisan Primary. In their findings, Olson and Dr. Ali highlight a handful of positive trends that have already emerged since the nonpartisan, top-two primary was first implemented in 2012. Among these trends i

When it comes to predicting elections, Moody's Analytics comes about as close to the seers of the crystal ball as we can get. Accurately predicting every election since 1980, with a perfect scorecard in 2012 (including all electoral votes), the Moody's model is pretty hard to beat. The Moody's model relies heavily on economic data, including real income, real housing, and gasoline prices, as well as political data on a state-by-state basis. As of August 27, Moody's has the Democrats winning 32