The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson


Containing His Articles, Observations, Thoughts, Meanderings,
and some would say Wisdom (and some would say not).

Three Scholars Understanding and Defending the Constitution

Having a great interest in Natural and Constitutional Rights, I refer to several different scholars on these topics. The three constitutional historians and scholars that I regularly follow are Robert G. Natelson, Jonathan Turley, and Michael Stokes Paulsen. Below are some of the more interesting articles that they have written on Natural and Constitutional Rights topics.

Robert G. Natelson

Robert G. Natelson has been a law professor for over 25 years, serving at three different universities. Among other subjects, he taught Constitutional Law, Constitutional History, Advanced Constitutional Law, and First Amendment. Professor Natelson is especially known for his studies of the Constitution’s original meaning. His research on that subject has carried him to libraries throughout the United States and in Britain, including four months at Oxford. His books and articles span many different parts of the Constitution, including groundbreaking studies of the Necessary and Proper Clause, federalism, Founding-Era interpretation, regulation of elections, and the amendment process of Article V. His research articles on the Constitution’s meaning have been cited repeatedly by justices and parties in the Supreme Court. He is the author of the book “The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant”, which I believe is one of the finest books on understanding what our Founding Fathers intended in creating the Constitution. He is also the author of many commentary pieces about the Constitution in today’s society, which can be viewed by clicking here.

Several of these commentary articles are a series of essays on Constitutional topics. These essays are:

As always, with the works of Robert G. Natelson, these articles are well researched and scholarly but are brief and easily understood by the general public.

Jonathan Turley

Jonathan Turley is an American attorney, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. A professor at George Washington University Law School, he has testified in United States Congressional proceedings about constitutional and statutory issues. Jonathan Turley’s articles are also well researched and scholarly but are brief and easily understood by the general public. I am particularly impressed by Professor Turley’s defense of the Natural Right of Free Speech; he has dozens of columns on free speech in newspapers or his blog. Some of his writings on Free Speech are:

Michael Stokes Paulsen

Michael Stokes Paulsen is the Distinguished University Chair & Professor of Law at the University of St. Thomas, where he has taught since 2007. Professor Paulsen is a graduate of Northwestern University, Yale Law School, and Yale Divinity School. He has served as a federal prosecutor, as Attorney-Advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice, and as counsel for the Center for Law & Religious Freedom. He is the author of the book (along with his son Luke Paulsen), "The Constitution: An Introduction", which is another fine book to understand the Constitution. Michael Stokes Paulsen's articles here, here, and here are also well researched and scholarly but are brief and easily understood by the general public. Some of his more interesting articles on the Constitution are:

In addition, Michael Stokes Paulsen is passionately anti-abortion based on his understanding of Natural and Constitutional Rights. His intellectual reasoning for his stance is as follows:

All three of these scholars are ardent in their Understanding and Defense of the Constitution and Natural Rights, and we all should pay heed to their knowledge, intellect, and wisdom on these topics.