Thomas Ascik is Senior Contributor at The Imaginative Conservative. Mr. Ascik is based in North Carolina and retired as an assistant United States attorney after nearly three decades of service. His writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including Real Clear Policy, The Hill, The Library of Law and Liberty, and The Federalist.
Today’s offering in our Timeless Essay series affords our readers the opportunity to join Thomas Ascik as he considers three recent books that address the prospects for Christianity in modern American culture. —W. Winston Elliott III, Publisher
“Precedence,” as well as following or overturning precedents, is not limited to what is decided in new cases. It is also concerns the adherence to established principles of judicial jurisprudence. Without both kinds of precedence, there is no limit to the power of the judiciary...
In the case of United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court found that the Constitution required formal, legal, and constitutional recognition of homosexual marriage. And yet if the Court had followed its own precedents, it would have ruled that Edith Windsor lacked the legal standing to file her original...
The Supreme Court apotheosized the right of privacy in its now-famous words: "At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life"... Editor’s Note: This essay continues a discussion of...
Would the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh have a profound impact on the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court? In other words, would his addition to the Court eventually have a broad and historic impact equal to that of Justice...
With the Supreme Court's decision in Gill v. Whitford, the door is now open under the right political circumstances for state courts to take over political redistricting. And the constitutional changes will be permanent... In the Wisconsin political-gerrymandering...
Though Masterpiece is a decision upholding religious liberty, the Supreme Court's ruling makes it clear that free speech about homosexuality does not enjoy broad protections... In the first of two momentous cases on its docket as to whether...
In the case of the now-deceased toddler, Alfie Evans, the British government, through its Royal College of Pediatrics and its courts, had legal authority. Alfie had legal “interests,” which the government defined in his case, but he did not have...
Patrick Deneen has entitled his book Why Liberalism Failed, but by his own analysis, he could have entitled it Why Liberalism Succeeded... Why Liberalism Failed by Patrick Deneen (248 pages, Yale University Press, 2018)
By state law, the state of California is now forcing pregnancy-support centers, whose sole purpose for existence is to offer alternatives to abortion, to “conspicuously” notify pregnant women of where they can receive abortions. The centers have objected...
In December, the Supreme Court decided not to hear a case that proposed to extend the Court’s sexual freedom cases to wife-swapping.
In Coker v. Whittington, two sheriff’s deputies in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, and their wives agreed...
With a “clear, plain, and palpable” eagerness to seize control of the Pennsylvania congressional map in time for the 2018 mid-term elections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has gone beyond judicial activism and joined with the Democrats in their...
If governments can directly instruct families about what to believe concerning homosexuality and about the correct frame of mind to have in conducting daily business, it is hard think that the policies and practices of religious schools and other institutions, like hospitals, will be left alone...
The Supreme Court’s decisions on “public displays” of religion have not been as categorical as its decisions on, for instance, school prayer... Is a long-standing commemorative cross on public land socially divisive and a governmental endorsement of...
