Implicit in the language of the 14th Amendment is a certain distrust for the states. With the 14th Amendment , the federal government firmly asserted that “No state shall,” in many cases, obstruct certain rights from the hands of the people. This was a powerful message, and one that held the potential to change the course of citizens’ rights. For the first time, the federal government claimed citizenship to be of the nation first, and of the state second. Individual states w

In January 2025, the Supreme Court heard arguments in TikTok Inc. v. Garland, 604 U.S. ___ (2025), one of the most consequential First Amendment cases in recent years. At stake was a federal law requiring ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, to either sell the platform or face a nationwide ban. For over 170 million users, the decision was about more than an app; it was about who controls the digital spaces where Americans create content. The government's position is st

United States v. Chesapeake Regional Medical Center On January 8th, 2025, Chesapeake Regional Medical Center was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and interference with government functions, violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 18 U.S.C. § 1347. Code §371 states it is illegal to conspire to commit any offense against the United States or to defraud the United States; and, Code §1347 protects against health care fraud, in which an individual cannot defraud a health