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Since retiring as an assistant United States Attorney, Thomas R. Ascik has written about legal and constitutional issues at a variety of websites.

November 12, 2019|Arizona Dream Act Coalition v. Brewer, DACA, DAPA, DHS v. Regents of the University of California, Reno v. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Separation of Powers

Can Executive Legislating Be Deferred?

by Thomas Ascik|Leave a Comment

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There is no precedent for a measure like DACA, concretely debated and rejected by Congress, to have been, nonetheless, put into effect by the president.

October 8, 2019|Bostock v. Clayton County Georgia, Civil Rights Act, Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC, Sexual Orientation, Title VII, Zarda v. Altitude Express

Sex, Sexual Orientation, and the Separation of Powers

by Thomas Ascik|22 Comments

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Three cases that deal with a powerful federal law pervasive in its influence pose the opportunity to the Court for the takeover of legislative power.

September 23, 2019|Administrative Procedures Act, Administrative State, census, Department of Commerce v. New York, Immigration, John Roberts

A Judicial Takeover of the Executive Branch

by Thomas Ascik|8 Comments

Chief Justice John Roberts before the 2013 State of the Union Address (Joshua Roberts / Alamy Stock Photo).

In the wake of Department of Commerce v. New York, administrative law may now be permanently changed.

July 3, 2019|Arizona v. California, Nevada v. Hall, state sovereignty, Tax Board of California v. Hyatt

Constitutional Logic and State Sovereignty

by Thomas Ascik|2 Comments

shutterstock.com (shock ninja studio).

The logic of the Constitution demands that states are not amenable to suits by other states without their consent.

March 5, 2019|Donald Trump, Federalism, Massachusetts v. EPA, national emergency

The New Federalism and the New Federal Judiciary

by Thomas Ascik|2 Comments

Protesters at the "Presidents Day Protest to Fight Trump's Fake Crisis," in San Francisco, California on February 18, 2019 (Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock.com).

If the states can sue about their general “economies” and the general “health, safety, and well being” of their citizens, they can sue about anything.

February 22, 2019|Citizenship, Federalism, state government

State Versus National Citizenship in Our New Federalism

by Thomas Ascik|8 Comments

The U.S. Capitol building, as seen between the columns of the Supreme Court (Dan Thornberg/Shutterstock.com).

We are fast abandoning the fundamental jurisprudence of our law that legislatures make general rules and courts apply them to specific circumstances.

January 17, 2019|Affordable Care Act, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, John Roberts, Judge Reed O'Connor, NFIB v. Sebelius

On Obamacare, Is Common Sense Really Judicial Activism?

by Thomas Ascik|8 Comments

Affordable Care Act text (Ellen McKnight/Shutterstock.com).

Ironically, it was efforts to save the ACA that produced Judge O'Connor's conclusion that Obamacare could not stand.

November 30, 2018|asset forfeiture, Barron v. Baltimore, Federalist 45, Fourteenth Amendment, Gitlow v. New York, Incorporation, Timbs v. Indiana

Asset Forfeiture, Incorporation, and the Fourteenth Amendment

by Thomas Ascik|17 Comments

The U.S. Supreme Court at dusk (Greg Blakeley/Shutterstock.com).

Nothing surpasses the intellectual intoxication and will to power of a federal constitutional lawsuit—democracy be damned.

October 8, 2018|Fisher v. University of Texas, Gratz v. Bollinger, Grutter v. Bollinger, Harvard University, Racial Preferences, Regents v. Bakke

Harvard’s Student Body: Hitting the Targets, Spinning the Story

by Thomas Ascik|5 Comments

Commencement at Harvard University, 2014 (image: f11photo / shutterstock.com)

Harvard officials insist that the university does not engage in racial balancing, but their own admissions statistics prove otherwise.

August 28, 2018|DACA, DAPA, Dream Act, NAACP v. Trump, Prosecutorial Discretion

Enforcing Immigration Laws is “Arbitrary and Capricious”

by Thomas Ascik|8 Comments

Protest against end of DACA in Portland, OR, September 5th, 2017 (Diego G Diaz / Shutterstock.com).

Granting federal prosecutors the "discretion" to choose as a matter of policy what laws they favor and what laws they do not favor is just fine, right?