20 April 2015

Something I Know Nothing About

A constitutional right to homeschool one's children, that is. In fact, except for the Article I's Contracts Clause and Bankruptcy Clause plus a smidgen about the Judicial Power in Article III, I shy away from the Constitutional Law. (Something about neither constitutional nor law comes to mind.) And my goodness, had we homeschooled our children, by now we'd either be childless or our children orphans.

If not me, then who does? Friend and research scholar David Wagner, that's who.

Go here to read David's article Homeschooling as a Constitutional Right: A Close Look at Meyer and Pierce and the Lochner-Based Assumptions They Made About State Regulatory Power, published last year in volume 39 of the Oklahoma City University Law Review. Don't let the unwieldy title discourage you. David is a fluid writer and his argument, while hewing close to the texts of several Supreme Court cases, is straightforward and understandable. David's conclusion (which you'll need to read the article to discover) is precise and lawyerly. 

In short, while the full conclusion of Homeschooling as a Constitutional Right cannot be summarized in a soundbite, it should give comfort to those who recall that the family preceded the State and who hope that the Constitution need not be read in a way that precludes recognition of the rights of the family.

A fine piece by a fine fellow.

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