Separation of Powers, Sovereignty, and National Security   Abstract At the beginning of the twenty-first century, a growing movement in American legal thought urged courts to align constitutional interpretation with evolving international norms. Foreign judicial decisions, international declarations, and global “consensus” were increasingly cited in domestic adjudication. Some federal courts expanded the use of customary international law as a source of enforceable federal cl

The Constitutional Doctrine of Standing in the Context of Parental Rights Across our nation, a quiet but profound constitutional conflict is unfolding. It is not confined to distant federal agencies or obscure regulatory codes. It is happening in families. In living rooms. In conversations between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons. It is unfolding in the deeply personal, often painful moments when parents seek to guide their children through adolescence, identity strugg

The Wagner Faith & Freedom Center at Spring Arbor University is pleased to invite friends and supporters to a special luncheon program in Scottsdale, Arizona , on Monday, March 16, 2026 , at the beautiful Olive & Ivy  restaurant. This gathering will bring together members of the Spring Arbor University community for an afternoon of fellowship, encouragement, and thoughtful reflection on the vital intersection of faith, family, freedom, and Christian higher education . Feature

The auditorium at Michigan State University was filled with the rare kind of attention reserved for questions that sit at the intersection of law, power, and national survival. At the center of the stage, the Hon. William Wagner (Ret.)—Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Ben Franklin Fellow, and Chair of the Wagner Faith & Freedom Center at SAU—spoke with the measured calm of a jurist. The debate concerned the President’s recent Venezuela operation, described by administration

By the Hon. William Wagner (Ret) The reported impending execution of a 19-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, allegedly for participation in peaceful anti-government protests, is more than a tragic human rights crisis. It is also a window into the growing convergence of international human rights law, U.S. statutory sanctions policy, and an increasingly tense national security posture toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.  The U.S. State Department’s public demand that Iran h

Hon. Wm Wagner (Ret) recently authored the Statement of the State Bar of Michigan Religious Liberty Law Section condemning disruption of church service. Click below to read the official RLS Position Statement: The Religious Liberty Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan solemnly condemns the recent disruption of a worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where demonstrators entered the sanctuary during the course of a religious service and effectively halted

January 27 On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we pause to remember one of the darkest chapters in human history—the systematic, state-sponsored annihilation of six million Jewish men, women, and children, and the persecution and murder of millions of others, carried out with chilling deliberation under the Nazi regime. The Holocaust stands as a permanent warning of what occurs when law is severed from moral truth, when the inherent dignity of the human person is deni

Revisiting the Insights of a Professor, Civil Rights Leader, Journalist, and Friend of MLK Jr.   On the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2004, I had the privilege of interviewing and hosting Roger Wilkins [i] , now with the Lord, who shared not as a distant commentator but as a man who knew Dr. King well and who, with sobriety and affection, tried to “draw some lessons” from King’s life appropriate for us today.   Today, on MLK Day 2026, I publish online, for the first

A Rebuttal to the Leftist Report, In Harm’s Way —  Exposing the Flaws in Research, Law, and Logic Behind the Call to Repeal Michigan’s Parental Consent Statute In recent years, Michigan has emerged as a focal point of a national effort to dismantle long-standing parental involvement requirements in abortion law. This article offers a comprehensive rebuttal to In Harm’s Way : How Michigan’s Forced Parental Consent for Abortion Law Hurts Young People, a report published by the