John Mark Slack wanted to restore his historic San Marcos home for livability. But San Marcos’ Historic Preservation Commission demanded that in order to get a Certificate of Appropriateness—its stamp of approval—he must replace the roof, siding and doors; broaden the front porch, and add skirting to their specifications. But commissioners didn’t stop there. In...
The American Bar Association (ABA) has long held a stranglehold on accrediting U.S. law schools. In Texas, the ABA gets to decide which schools’ students can take the bar exam, a prerequisite to practicing law. Entrusting a private, out-of-state organization with control over Texas legal education is problematic for three reasons: the ABA pushes politically biased standards,...
Roscoe Filburn owned a wheat farm in rural Montgomery County, Ohio. When he used his own farm to feed his own family, he fell under the hammer of the federal government. It was 1938, and America was in the throes of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Agricultural commodity prices—and specifically, wheat prices—fluctuated wildly,...