British Journal of American Legal Studies | Volume 7 Issue 1 American Legal Studies Volume 7 Issue 1 Spring 2018
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Birmingham City School of Law British Journal of British Journal of American Legal Studies | Volume 7 Issue 1 7 Issue Legal Studies | Volume British Journal of American American Legal Studies Volume 7 Issue 1 Spring 2018 ARTICLES Founding-Era Socialism: The Original Meaning of the Constitution’s Postal Clause Robert G. Natelson Toward Natural Born Derivative Citizenship John Vlahoplus Felix Frankfurter and the Law Thomas Halper Fundamental Rights in Early American Case Law: 1789-1859 Nicholas P. Zinos The Holmes Truth: Toward a Pragmatic, Holmes-Influenced Conceptualization of the Nature of Truth Jared Schroeder Acts of State, State Immunity, and Judicial Review in the United States Zia Akthar ISSN 2049-4092 (Print) British Journal of American Legal Studies Editor-in-Chief: Dr Anne Richardson Oakes, Birmingham City University. Associate Editors Dr. Sarah Cooper, Birmingham City University. Dr. Haydn Davies, Birmingham City University. Prof. Julian Killingley, Birmingham City University. Prof. Jon Yorke, Birmingham City University. Seth Barrett Tillman, National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Birmingham City University Student Editorial Assistants 2017-2018 Mercedes Cooling Graduate Editorial Assistants 2017-2018 Amna Nazir Alice Storey Editorial Board Hon. Joseph A. Greenaway Jr., Circuit Judge 3rd Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals. Hon. Raymond J. McKoski, Circuit Judge (retired), 19th Judicial Circuit Court, IL. Adjunct Professor of Law, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, IL. Prof. Antonio Aunion, University of Castille-la Mancha. Prof. Francine Banner, Phoenix School of Law, AZ. Prof. Devon W. Carbado, UCLA, CA. Dr. Damian Carney, University of Portsmouth, UK. Dr. Simon Cooper, Reader in Property Law, Oxford Brookes University. Prof. Randall T. Coyne, Frank Elkouri and Edna Asper Elkouri Professor, College of Law, University of Oklahoma, Norman OK. Mark George QC, Garden Court Chambers, Manchester, UK. Prof. Larry Hammond, Osborne Maledon PA, Phoenix AZ. Prof. Carolyn Hoyle, Professor of Criminology, University of Oxford, UK. Prof. James Kousouros, CALS Visiting Professor, NY. Prof. Ian Loveland, City University London, UK. Prof. James Maxeiner, Center for International & Comparative Law, University of Baltimore School of Law, Baltimore, MD. Prof. Ruth Miller, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA. Dr. Anne-Marie O’Connell, University Toulouse 1 Capitole. Prof. Austin Sarat, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Jurisprudence & Political Science, Amherst College, MA. Dr. Stephen W. Smith, Cardiff University, UK. Prof. Carrie Sperling, University of Wisconsin Law School. Prof. Clive Stafford Smith, Reprieve. Dr. Timothy Stanley, Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, UK. Prof. Adam N. Steinman, Professor of Law & Frank M. Johnson Faculty Scholar, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL. Prof. Russell Wheeler, The Brookings Institution, Washington DC. British Journal of American Legal Studies Volume 7 Issue 1 Spring 2018 CONTENTS Founding-Era Socialism: The Original Meaning of the Constitution’s Postal Clause Robert G. Natelson ............................................................................................................................................1 Toward Natural Born Derivative Citizenship John Vlahoplus .................................................................................................................................................71 Felix Frankfurter and the Law Thomas Halper .............................................................................................................................................. 115 Fundamental Rights in Early American Case Law: 1789-1859 Nicholas P. Zinos ............................................................................................................................................ 137 The Holmes Truth: Toward a Pragmatic, Holmes-Influenced Conceptualization of the Nature of Truth Jared Schroeder ............................................................................................................................................. 169 Acts of State, State Immunity, and Judicial Review in the United States Zia Akthar ........................................................................................................................................................ 205 Br. J. Am. Leg. Studies 7(1) (2018), DOI: 10.2478/bjals-2018-0001 FOUNDING-ERA SOCIALISM: THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE CONSTITUTION’S POSTAL CLAUSE Robert G. Natelson* ABSTRACT The Constitution’s Postal Clause granted Congress power to “establish Post Offices and post Roads.” This Article examines founding-era legal and historical materials to determine the original meaning and scope of the Postal Clause. It concludes that the Clause authorized Congress to pass all legislation necessary to create, operate, and regulate a unified transportation, freight, and courier system, although it also limited congressional authority in some respects. The founding-era reasons for the postal system were revenue, promotion of commerce, and political control. The Article also corrects some inaccurate claims about the Clause previously advanced by commentators. KEYWORDS Postal Clause; Post Roads; Original Meaning U.S. Constitution; Benjamin Franklin; British Royal Post Office. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 5 A. The Anomalous Character of the Postal Clause ...................................... 5 B. This Article’s Structure and Method ....................................................... 6 I. BACKGROUND HISTORY: THE BRITISH IMPERIAL POSTAGE SYSTEM ........................ 7 A. Why British Practice is Relevant ............................................................ 7 B. The English Beginnings .......................................................................... 8 C. Vocabulary and Operations of the British Postal System .........................9 * Professor of Law (ret.), The University of Montana; Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence, the Independence Institute, Denver, Colorado; Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence, Montana Policy Institute, Bozeman, Montana. Some of the author’s observations about business practices derive from his private sector experience. The author acknowledges these individuals who helped make this article possible: Jonathan Miceli, Sturm College of Law, University of Denver (J.D. 2018), for research assistance; Virginia Dunn, Archives and Library Reference Service Manager, and Cassandra Farrell, Senior Map Archivist, both at the Library of Virginia; Professor David Kopel, Sturm College of Law, the University of Denver and Research Director of the Independence Institute, for his continued support; Dr. Anne Richardson Oakes for helpful editing and support; and Elizabeth J. Natelson, for her careful editing. © 2018 Robert G. Natelson, published by De Gruyter Open. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. 7 Br. J. Am. Leg. Studies (2018) D. Purposes of the British Postal System ........................................... 14 E. The British Post Office Becomes Imperial: The Statute of 1711 ... 18 F. Motifs in the Development of the Imperial Postal System ............. 20 II. BACKGROUND HISTORY: THE COLONIAL AMERICAN POSTAL SYSTEM .......... 24 A. The American Post Office as the Successor to the British Imperial Post Office ....................................................................................24 B. American Colonial Operations and Ben Franklin .......................... 26 C. The American Postal System in the Sunset of British Rule ........... 27 III. THE CONTINENTAL POST OFFICE IN THE SUNRISE OF INDEPENDENCE ......... 31 A. The Vocabulary of the Continental Post Office ............................. 31 B. The Purposes of the Continental Post Office ................................. 33 C. Congress Decides to Emulate the British ....................................... 35 D. Regularizing Postal Law Under the Articles of Confederation ..... 36 E. The Woes of a State-Owned Enterprise .......................................... 38 1. Problems Inherited from the British Model .............................. 38 2. Other Problems ......................................................................... 41 IV. THE DRAFTING OF THE POSTAL CLAUSE ................................................... 43 A. Why Adopt a Postal Clause? .......................................................... 43 B. The Constitutional Convention ...................................................... 45 V. THE RATIFICATION ERA: 1787-90............................................................. 47 A. Ratification-Era Evidence .............................................................. 47 B. The Ratification Debates in State Conventions and in Public ........ 47 C. Ratification-Era Proceedings in the Confederation Congress ........ 52 D. Ratification Era Proceedings in the First Federal Congress .......... 53 VI. THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE POSTAL CLAUSE .................................... 55 A. Questions Raised ............................................................................55 B. What Was A “Post Road?” .............................................................56 C. What Did “Establish” Mean, and Did the Power to “Establish” a Postal System Include Defining and Punishing Postal Crimes? 56 2 FOUNDING-ERA SOCIALISM: THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF THE CONSTITUTION’S POSTAL CLAUSE