Constitution and Supreme Court Talk: Not Just for Lawyers Anymore!

In front of the Supreme Court on 3/28/12

What an exciting week it has been for Constitution-lovers! Every time I turn on the radio or TV or look at Facebook, so many people, "average Joes" included, are talking about the different Supreme Court Justices and using words like "severability" and "enumerated powers" and might even throw in an old court case name like "Wickard v. Filburn." Suddenly the American people are paying as much attention to the judicial branch as to the elected branches!

This is such a positive change from twelve years ago, when my interest in the Constitution prompted me to start applying to law schools, since virtually no one outside of the legal profession was talking about these issues back then.

Few people know that my undergrad degree was in English Secondary Education. I never thought about law school back then, though I did love following conservative political news, and had a keen interest in education policy. After graduating I ended up working for organizations providing school choice through private charity, but I still had a hankering for teaching. So when I saw a call for volunteer English as a Second Language teachers in my church bulletin, I signed up.

I was assigned to teach a citizenship test preparation class. When I got started, I was distressed to see the students were just going through worksheets to memorize the answers to 100 possible questions such as "what are the colors of the flag?" or "when is Independence Day?" or if the examiner wanted to get tough "which President signed the Emancipation Proclamation?" No one was explaining what the questions or answers really meant. Call me crazy, but I think voters--and these students would soon earn the right to vote--ought to understand the basics of our form of government. So I started developing my own curriculum for the class.

In early 2000, I started a unit on the Bill of Rights amendments to the Constitution. As I prepared my materials and taught the students, I kept noticing that the plain words of the Constitution didn't seem to match up with the way the government actually worked in the present. Why was that? How did the government justify what it was doing under the Constitution? Was there any hope of moving back toward the original intent? I was hungry for answers, and found the only folks who were talking about these things were lawyers, particularly those associated with The Federalist Society.

At the time I was also considering the next step in my career path, and decided going to law school would not only allow me to study these questions, but also open new doors of opportunity. I chose the University of Virginia School of Law because its faculty represented a diversity of legal philosophies, including some leading originalist (as in original intent of the Constitution) scholars like John Harrison, who served in the Reagan Administration, and Lillian BeVier, a highly respected conservative expert on the First Amendment.

The Federalist Society provided me with ample opportunities, in addition to some of my classes, to deepen my knowledge of Constitutional law. In my second year I joined the UVA chapter leadership and interned at the national headquarters in DC once a week. In my third year I served as chapter President and focused on growing our membership through an excellent program of events and guest speakers, and specific outreach to women, many of whom I found to be "quietly conservative." Through the UVA Federalist Society, I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Justices Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy, and the late Chief Justice Rehnquist. When I interned with a law firm one summer, I also had the privilege of proofing and editing the joint brief of the Republican and Libertarian political parties challenging the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law before the Supreme Court. (Unfortunately, former Justice O'Connor woke up on the unconstitutional side of bed when that case was decided.)

It was all so interesting and important, yet as soon as I stepped outside of the legal clique, virtually no one knew what on earth I was talking about. That finally started to change after Obama was elected. I give the tea party movement a ton of credit for bringing the Constitution and Supreme Court to widespread public attention.

I think it is making a difference! The Supreme Court Justices rightly are not elected and can't be lobbied like the elected branches, but I think they are subtly influenced by what people are saying in the public square. If the only people talking about them are legal academics and lawyers, then most of the talk will be from liberals, and the Justices will find it hard to swim against that tide. But with so many Americans talking now about the Constitution and Supreme Court from the perspective of original intent and preserving individual liberty, it makes it much easier for Justices like Anthony Kennedy to say things like "here the government is saying that the Federal Government has a duty to tell the individual citizen that it must act, and that is different from what we have in previous cases, and that changes the relationship of the Federal Government to the individual in a very fundamental way."

So to all lovers of the constitution, whether you have a Juris Doctor or not, I say "let's keep up the great work!"

Fairfax Republicans: Strong and Growing

Just one-third of the FCRC convention participants shown in this photo!

Yesterday, approximately 800 registered delegates and 200 other guests came together to elect a new Chairman for the Fairfax County Republican Committee. This was the highest convention participation in over a decade.

Though the election between two strong candidates was very close, the race was never bitter. As soon as Jay McConville was announced the winner, Matt Ames announced he would continue to serve as FCRC's first Vice-Chair for Operations alongside Jay. We are fortunate to have a great captain and co-captain, along with 9 strong magisterial district chairmen and hundreds of precinct captains, Republican women's club members, etc. ready to equip thousands of grassroots activists throughout the county and lead Republicans to victory this year.

Clearly, Republicans in Fairfax County are stronger and more united than they have been in a long time. But does our representation on the State Central Committee reflect this same unity and dynamism? What part have the incumbents played in building the Fairfax County GOP to this point? Do the State Central members outside Northern Virginia hear from the 11th District representatives what has worked so well at the grassroots level in Fairfax, and what the state party can do differently to enable NoVA Republicans to do even better? These are important questions we need to be asking as we decide who should represent the 11th District on the Republican Party of Virginia's governing board for the next 4 years.

Spotlight on Prince William County

In 2010, when Republican Keith Fimian fell less than 1,000 votes short of unseating Gerry Connolly (one of the closest races in the nation!), Prince William County voters played a large part in selecting the 11th District's nominee and almost electing him to Congress.

2012 is shaping up to be a tougher year for the Prince William County Republicans. Redistricting has completely changed the parts of of Prince William County that are or are not in the 11th District.

The Virginia Senate lines drawn last year also carved up the county in such a way that, even though 57% of votes cast in Prince William were for Republicans in 2011, only 40% of Prince William County's Virginia Senators are Republican. The Prince William County Republican Committee passed a resolution last November asking the Republicans in the legislature to give them relief from this situation in the Congressional redistricting, which was completely ignored. Prince William continues to be split between 3 congressional districts, though many residents were shifted to a different district.

One of the 11th District candidates for State Central Committee this year is a magisterial district chairman from Prince William County: Bob Patten. I have gotten to know Bob on the campaign trail over the past couple of months, and we share the goals of refocusing the State Central Committee on winning elections and growing the party, and truly representing the views of Republican activists in the 11th District instead of our own private agendas. I also agree that Prince William County Republicans deserve representation on the State Central Committee. So I hope you'll join me in supporting Bob.

Remember, you get to vote for 3 people in the State Central race. In fact, because of the procedure set up by the incumbents, it is important to select three people when you cast your first ballot. Selecting only one or two will only ensure that there will need to be multiple rounds of ballots and drag the convention out all afternoon.

If you're not yet registered to vote in the 11th District convention, Prince William County and Fairfax City residents can still register through March 31. (Click here for more information about how to register.) Unfortunately, the deadline has already passed for Fairfax County residents, but you can still help by leaving an endorsement message, donating to the campaign, or volunteering to help hand out stickers and flyers at the Fairfax County Republican Committee convention at West Springfield HS the morning of March 24.

FAQ: What Does the State Central Committee Do?

Several people have asked me, "What does State Central Committee do? How often does it meet? And why is it important?" All excellent questions! Here are your answers:

Licia Ronzulli, representing Italy in the European Parliament,
gets a little help with voting. I don't plan on bringing kids
to State Central meetings, but I do find this photo adorable.

How often? State Central Committee regularly meets four times a year, and calls special additional sessions when needed. So this is not a commitment that interferes with working or family life, or even with being actively involved in precinct-level political activity.

What does it do? State Central Committee makes decisions for the Republican Party of Virginia, statewide. Chief among these is choosing between primaries and conventions as the method for nominating statewide candidates (President, Senator, Governor, Lt. Gov., and Attorney General). State Central can amend the "Party Plan," which is like the bylaws of the Republican Party of Virginia, and controls much of what local units like the Fairfax County Republican Committee can and cannot do. They approve the annual budget for the state party, which means they have an important role to play in how the RPV raises money and how it is spent.

State Central representatives also sit on their own Congressional District committees. These committees choose between primaries and conventions for their own congressional district's nominations, and they determine the rules for their own party conventions (i.e. the May 19 convention at Oakton HS for the 11th District). They also play an important role in supporting Republican candidates with fundraising and grassroots assistance at the congressional district level.

Why is it important? The choice between holding a primary and a convention often makes or breaks certain candidates where the Republican nomination is contested. Conventions tend to favor candidates who have been involved in Virginia GOP politics for a long time, or who provoke enough intense feelings from a certain group of voters to inspire them to navigate the complex process and spend a day in Richmond voting. (As you can imagine, they also favor candidates who live closer to Richmond.) Primaries favor candidates who have the organizational capacity to reach out to a broad base of voters throughout the state, including voters who want to have a say in the nominating process but aren't willing or able to give up an entire Saturday to do that.

Other rules set by the State Central Committee can critically impact elections in Virginia, and local party operations. For instance, State Central has the power to make the changes I've suggested in recent posts: providing statewide online registration and allowing sensible proxy voting for conventions. State Central also plays an important role in defining the Republican "brand" in Virginia.