Senior Legal Fellow, Advancing American Freedom
Amy Swearer is a leading national expert on a wide range of public policy, legal, and constitutional issues, including the Second Amendment, criminal justice, and mental health policy. She has long been a respected conservative voice on gun policy and is routinely asked to testify before state and federal legislative bodies. Her work on birthright citizenship, meanwhile, has been featured extensively in litigation over the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause.
Swearer was formerly a Senior Legal Fellow in the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. At Heritage, she ran the Defensive Gun Use Database and was the primary author of the e-book “The Essential Second Amendment.” She was also a driving force behind the organization’s School Safety Initiative.
She was the 2022 recipient of the Heritage Foundation’s Joseph Shattan Award for “writing that presents conservative ideas in a powerful and compelling fashion to policymakers and the American people.” She was also named the Second Amendment Institute’s 2022 Gun Rights Champion.
Swearer received her law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law and was a member of the Nebraska Law Review. She holds a B.S. in Criminology & Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska, where she was a Chancellor’s Scholar and a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team
Professor of History, Georgia Southern University
Johnathan O'Neill is Professor of History at Georgia Southern University. Professor O’Neill is the author of Originalism in American Law and Politics: A Constitutional History (2005) and Conservative Thought and American Constitutionalism Since the New Deal (2023).
Hawaii Supreme Court Rejects Bruen as Inconsistent With “Aloha Spirit”
Amy E. Swearer
In a recent opinion, the Supreme Court of Hawaii held that the Hawaii state constitution...
A Response to the Constitution's Critics
Johnathan O'Neill
A review of Dennis Hale and Marc Landy, Keeping the Republic: A Defense of American...
Topics
Who Owns the Law? The Pro Codes Act’s Copyright Conundrum
Voluntary consensus standards have become an essential but unseen part of everyday life. From ensuring...
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Moore v. United States and the Uncertainty About “Direct” and “Indirect” Taxes
Our Constitution distinguishes between direct and indirect taxes. Indirect tax rates must be uniform throughout...
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Self-Evident Truths: The One Sure Foundation for True Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
In recent years, corporations, government agencies, and institutions of higher education across the country have...
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Louisiana's Ten Commandments Statute and the Establishment Clause
On June 19, 2024, the governor of Louisiana signed into law House Bill No. 71....
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Garland v. Cargill: The Court’s Textualists Stick to Their Guns
Because it involves guns, Cargill v. Garland has been seen by supporters and opponents alike...
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The FCC’s Universal Service Fund Faces Nondelegation Challenges
The FCC distributes more than $7 billion dollars every year through its Universal Service Fund...
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Minimum Salaries and the Evolving Workforce: Why the DOL’s New Automatic Salary Updates Clash With Legal Precedent and Economic Facts
Overtime exemptions are about to get more expensive. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, most...
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Major Questions Raised by EPA’s EV Mandates
In hopes of shoring up its aggressive anti-fossil-fuel policy agenda against a possible electoral loss...