Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Government

December 26, 2018

Explainer: What you should know about the 2018 partial government shutdown

What just happened? On Friday the federal government entered a partial shutdown after the Senate failed to pass a spending bill that includes border wall funding. President Trump refuses to sign any additional funding that does not include $5.1 billion in additional money to pay for an extension of the border wall, allowing him to fulfill his primary campaign promise. Continue Reading...
December 20, 2018

Criminal justice reform: What is it and why does it matter?

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted 87-12 to pass the First Step Act. If enacted, the legislation would provide some reform of prisons and sentencing at the federal level. The most significant changes would be the implementation of incentives for prisoners to engage in “evidence-based recidivism reduction programs” and increased judicial discretion in sentencing. Continue Reading...
October 12, 2018

Jaime Balmes: constitutional politics at the service of conciliation

This article is written by  Josep Mª Castellá Andreu and translated by Joshua Gregor. It was originally published by RedFloridaBlanca and is republished with permission. Nineteenth-century Spanish constitutionalism is usually interpreted as a pendulum swinging between liberal or progressive constitutions and moderate or conservative ones. Continue Reading...
September 07, 2018

Sen. Ben Sasse’s two-minute civics class

Earlier this week, during the confirmation hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse gave what David French calls a “short master class in civics and the role of the judiciary in the American constitutional republic.” Continue Reading...