Menu Close

Articles on Bill of rights

Displaying 1 - 20 of 50 articles

In her efforts to build a new relationship with the Catholic Church, Queen Elizabeth II had interactions with several pontiffs. She is seen here with Pope John Paul II. AP Photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Pool, File

Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne at a time of deep religious divisions and worked to bring tolerance

Queen Elizabeth II encouraged tolerance in a multifaith United Kingdom. To appreciate the significance of her efforts, it is important to understand the country’s complicated religious history.
Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, former South African President FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela after signing a peace pledge ahead of the first democratic elections in 1994. Keith Schamotta/AFP via Getty Images

New book on South Africa’s history puts black people at the centre, for a change

This history covers twelve decades, from the surrender of Boer guerrillas in the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1902 to the July 2021 looting spree and violence.
A gun rights advocate walks through the rotunda of the Kentucky Capitol. Some lawyers argue that the 1689 English Bill of Rights created the legal basis for public carry of weapons in the U.S. Bryan Woolston/Getty Images

Why are medieval weapons laws at the center of a US Supreme Court case?

Many gun rights advocates claim that the right to carry guns is a universal right that has spanned centuries and nations. History tells a different story.
Dozens of people attended an open carry rally led by Joey Gibson, leader of the Patriot Prayer group, on May 20, 2018, in Seattle. Karen Ducey/Getty Images

Gun rights at the Supreme Court: Justices will consider if the fundamental right to keep a gun at home applies to carrying weapons in public

The Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that you have a constitutional right to have a gun in your home. Now, the justices will consider how far outside of the home that right extends.
Donald Trump at a press conference to announce a class action lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter, Google and their CEOs. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Trump can’t beat Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in court – but the fight might be worth more than a win

Former President Trump is asking the courts to do what tycoon Trump once would have denounced: tell some of America’s most powerful corporations that they have no choice who they do business with.
South Africa’s Constitutional Court is considered the bedrock of the country’s democratic order. Here it is in session in 2019. Photo by Alon Skuy/Sowetan/Gallo Images via Getty Images

South Africa’s 1994 ‘miracle’: what’s left?

The growing defence of South Africa’s beleaguered constitutional democracy is bolstered by African thinker Mahmood Mamdani’s latest book.
Young Sandi Sile on an abandoned structure in Makhanda, South Africa, in 2013. Questions remain about how the new law will treat abandoned land. Getty Images

South Africa has another go at an expropriation law. What it’s all about

The proposed new law has a long history. The country has been trying for almost 12 years now to come up with expropriation legislation that is in line with the constitution.
Pete Musico, left, is one of the founding members of the Wolverine Watchmen, as is Joseph Morrison, right. Both were charged in the plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP) Jackson County Sheriff’s Office via AP

Plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor grew from the militia movement’s toxic mix of constitutional falsehoods and half-truths

A scholar of militia movements describes the ‘peculiar’ – and erroneous – principles that right-wing militias subscribe to, including believing themselves to be defenders of the Bill of Rights.
People gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court building as news spread of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Sept. 18 death. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

3 ways a 6-3 Supreme Court would be different

A 6-3 conservative court will hear a broader range of controversial cases, shift interpretations of individual rights and put more pressure on local democracy to make policy decisions.

Top contributors

More