Garrett Epps

Garrett Epps, a former reporter for The Washington Post, is a novelist and legal scholar. He teaches courses in constitutional law and creative writing for law students at the University of Baltimore and lives in Washington, D.C. His new book is Wrong and Dangerous: Ten Right Wing Myths About Our Constitution.

Strip Search for a Minor Offense: Is It Constitutional?

Strip Search for a Minor Offense: Is It Constitutional?

To the Supreme Court, questions of dignity and rights seem less important than defining "true anal cavity searches" More »

The Individual Conscience and the Rights of Church Bodies

The Individual Conscience and the Rights of Church Bodies

If civil rights laws don't apply to religious teachers, Justice Sotomayor asks, what about child-abuse reporting laws? More »

A Constitutional-Law Nerd's Take on Upcoming Supreme Court Cases

A Constitutional-Law Nerd's Take on Upcoming Supreme Court Cases

While we wait for the main course -- the Affordable Care Act case -- the Court offers some intriguing appetizers More »

Rick Perry Believes in a Liberal Conspiracy Against the Constitution

Rick Perry Believes in a Liberal Conspiracy Against the Constitution

In his recent book Fed Up!, the new Republican front-runner found treason everywhere, molding history to fit his ideas More »

Arizona's Case Against the Voting Rights Act

Arizona's Case Against the Voting Rights Act

As ballot restrictions multiply, the state is bringing a lawsuit against the right to vote More »

Can the Government Suppress Lies?

Can the Government Suppress Lies?

People fib. But a current court case centers around whether laws can stop them. More »

California Dreaming: An End to the Wretched Electoral College

California Dreaming: An End to the Wretched Electoral College

The system we have for presidential elections is dangerous and rickety. It should be reformed -- very carefully. More »

Constitutional Myth #10: International Law is a Threat to the Constitution

Constitutional Myth #10: International Law is a Threat to the Constitution

The Founders wrote "the law of nations" into the document; the far right wants to read it out More »

Constitutional Myth #9: The Election of Senators 'Harms' the States

Constitutional Myth #9: The Election of Senators 'Harms' the States

The 17th Amendment removed a firewall of privilege -- which is why the Right doesn't like it More »

Constitutional Myth #8: The 14th Amendment Doesn't Exist

Constitutional Myth #8: The 14th Amendment Doesn't Exist

Why do some on the right look at this basic guarantee of democracy and think nothing's there? More »

Constitutional Myth #7: The 10th Amendment Protects 'States' Rights'

Constitutional Myth #7: The 10th Amendment Protects 'States' Rights'

Today's "Tenthers" seem to be yearning for the good old Articles of Confederation, not this newfangled left-wing Madison thing More »

The Constitution's Latest Blaze of Notoriety: Bad for the Republic

The Constitution's Latest Blaze of Notoriety: Bad for the Republic

In a time of crisis, Section Four of the Fourteenth Amendment is a fireaxe on the wall, and the president may have to break the glass More »

Constitutional Myth #6: The Second Amendment Allows Citizens to Threaten Government

Constitutional Myth #6: The Second Amendment Allows Citizens to Threaten Government

The "right to bear arms" is not a right to nullify any government measure a "sovereign citizen" finds irksome More »

What Clarence Thomas's Video-Games Dissent Tells Us About 'Originalism'

What Clarence Thomas's Video-Games Dissent Tells Us About 'Originalism'

The Justice's interpretation of the Constitution is one of pick-and-choose history More »

Constitutional Myth #5: Corporations Have the Same Free-Speech Rights as Individuals

Constitutional Myth #5: Corporations Have the Same Free-Speech Rights as Individuals

The problem isn't "corporate personhood"; it's simple-minded interpretation that refuses to take note of the real function of the First Amendment More »

Obama's Bush-Like Approach to Executive Power

Obama's Bush-Like Approach to Executive Power

The president's reasons for skirting the War Powers Resolution sound an awful lot like his predecessor's justifications for torture More »

Constitutional Myth #4: The Constitution Doesn't Separate Church and State

Constitutional Myth #4: The Constitution Doesn't Separate Church and State

America's Founding Fathers may not have included the phrase, but the history is clear—they never wanted a Christian nation More »

Constitutional Myth #3: The 'Unitary Executive' is a Dictator in War and Peace

Constitutional Myth #3: The 'Unitary Executive' is a Dictator in War and Peace

The idea that the President's powers aren't limited by Congress is a radical—and dangerous—trend More »

Constitutional Myth #2: The 'Purpose' of the Constitution Is to Limit Congress

What really drives this idea today isn't legal theory; it's the political fear that the people of the United States will enact progressive legislation More »

Constitutional Myth #1: The Right Is 'Originalist,' Everyone Else Is 'Idiotic'

Constitutional Myth #1: The Right Is 'Originalist,' Everyone Else Is 'Idiotic'

Justice Scalia and certain other conservatives deny that America's Founding Fathers left any room for interpretation in the Constitution More »

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