Category Archives: U.S. Constitution

Virginia’s high court silently joins gerrymandering conversation

Posted on March 2, 2018 by Bennett Minton

Gerrymandering has broken through the din of partisan grenade-throwing to become a top-tier issue of voter concern across the political spectrum. If we cannot fix this party- and incumbent-protection racket, We the People are coming to understand, we will cease … Continue reading →

Posted in gerrymandering, Supreme Court, U.S. Constitution, Virginia legislature, Voting, Voting Rights Act | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

That fantasy about the Second Amendment

Posted on February 23, 2018 by Bennett Minton

I keep seeing these fairy tales about the origins of the Second Amendment — that its purpose was to guard against the tyranny of the government by enshrining an individual’s right to own a gun. The Constitution was ratified in reaction to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bill of Rights, James Madison, U.S. Constitution, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Anniversary of a call to citizenship

Posted on October 8, 2017 by Bennett Minton

Fifty-five years ago this week, I woke up in Arlington for the first time, a four-year-old transplanted from Texas. Upon finishing law school in Austin, my dad had answered Kennedy’s call, “Ask what you can do for your country,” and … Continue reading →

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The Electoral College: Will no one rid us of this meddlesome relic?

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Bennett Minton

On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the Electoral College is expected to demonstrate not only its uselessness but its destructiveness by choosing for president a candidate who lost the national popular vote by more than 2 … Continue reading →

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‘Change’ vs. our ossified process: It’s no contest

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Bennett Minton

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Martin Luther King’s distillation of abolitionist Theodore Parker’s sermon is one of his most famous quotations. It resonates with us because we assume the universe is moral … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, election campaign, Electoral College, gerrymandering, U.S. Constitution, Voting | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Abraham Lincoln had it pretty good

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Bennett Minton

When our 16th president was inaugurated, seven of the 11 Confederate states had already walked. South Carolina’s secession resolution, like those of other rebellious states, was unambiguous that slavery was the cause: A geographical line has been drawn across the … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, Congress, Supreme Court, U.S. Constitution, Uncategorized, Voting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Bert Neuborne and ‘Madison’s Music’

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Bennett Minton

Have you considered why the First Amendment is structured the way it is, or how the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights came to be so ordered? Me neither, until I read Bert Neuborne’s new book, Madison’s Music: On … Continue reading →

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“Civil Death”: Florida’s Criminal Disenfranchisement

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Bennett Minton

The Honorable Rick Scott Tallahassee, Florida Dear Governor Scott: Belated congratulations on your reelection in November. I don’t write to every governor, but as a non-resident, property-tax-payer who spends about half the year in the Sunshine State (summers too – … Continue reading →

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Three speeches and a bump on the road to a more perfect union

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Bennett Minton

In our journey toward a more perfect union, we have witnessed cycles of history since Abraham Lincoln delivered the greatest speech in American history 150 years ago. Two other speeches, 50 years ago this month, complete a cycle of that … Continue reading →

Posted in Abraham Lincoln, U.S. Constitution, Voting Rights Act | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gerrymandering: Politics as situational ethics?

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Bennett Minton

The state senator had an appointment out of town, and all his colleagues knew it. As soon as he left, the other political party, exploiting its temporary one-seat advantage, rushed to the floor a new legislative district map, though the … Continue reading →

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