Dave Roland

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: Five U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed ready on Wednesday to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), but they didn’t agree on the reason.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the swing justice, suggested that the law denying federal benefits to same-sex couples “intertwined” the federal government with “the citizens’ day-to-day life” in a way that violated federalism by interfering with the states’ power to regulate marriage, divorce and custody.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 13, 2012 - If President Barack Obama has a chance to replace one of the five Republican-appointed justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, he could bring about significant constitutional change and create the most liberal Supreme Court since the famous Warren Court of the 1960s.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Nov. 28, 2011 - Occupy Wall Street protesters have a First Amendment right to protest in a public park, but they don't have the right to camp overnight or to physically block police officers trying to remove their tents. If officers try to forcibly remove protesters, the police may use reasonable, but not excessive force.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 2, 2011 - The standing-room-only crowd of Tea Party activists listened in rapt silence while two prominent local conservatives debated the best way to press for governmental change: election or constitutional convention?

At issue at Tuesday night's forum in Clayton was the push, nationally and in Missouri, for a constitutional amendment to allow states to repeal federal laws and mandates.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 28, 2010 -  The federal health-reform train began rolling across America this summer, dropping off benefits at every stop along the way, offering coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, giving added protection to young people about to be removed from their parents' health plans, and setting up temporary high-risk pools for some unable to buy affordable insurance.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 23, 2010 - If the U.S. Supreme Court were to strike down the new health-care law, it would have to reverse the modern interpretation of federal power that has existed since the Great Depression. Such a judicial counter-revolution could result in the kind of confrontation between the court and the president that occurred during the New Deal.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 22, 2010 - A constitutional showdown over federal mandates and higher Medicaid bills for states may be among the long-term consequences of the U.S. House's approval of the bill to extend coverage to the uninsured, experts in Missouri say.