Is America a Republic or a Democracy? The Founders' Answer Is Better Than Either Slogan
The Framers built a constitutional republic on purpose. Its democratic engine runs through representation, and its brakes are written into the Constitution.
Constitution Explained
Evelyn Shaw
Evelyn Shaw covers the Constitution, the Supreme Court and the federal courts for Radio Purple. A lawyer by training who clerked for a federal appellate judge before turning to journalism, she reads every opinion and dissent in full. Her coverage explains the textualist or originalist reading and the living-constitution reading of each case, and what a ruling means in practice. Evelyn also covers free speech, religious liberty, gun rights, criminal justice and separation of powers.
Columns
'Fire in a Crowded Theater' and Other Free-Speech Myths
The most quoted line in First Amendment debates comes from a case that sent a man to prison for opposing the draft. Here is what the law actually protects, and what it doesn't.