Jeff Jacoby Column

In a Boston courthouse next week, a federal judge will hear arguments in a case that seeking to have the Selective Service Act — which requires men to register for the draft but bars women from doing so — struck down as an unconstitutional violation of the 28th Amendment.

There's just one problem. There is no 28th Amendment. My new column explains :

Magical thinking about the Equal Rights Amendment - The Boston Globe The ERA was never ratified. A federal judge in Boston is being asked to say it was.

From my new Boston Globe Opinion column:

𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 *𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨* 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘮 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴' 𝘋𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵.

When a president clung fiercely to the rule of law THE PRESIDENT'S speech had been a triumph. It was April 25, 1912, five days before the Republican primary in Massachusetts. A massive crowd packed the Boston Arena to see William Howard Taft, who was seeking his party's nomination for a second term,

When tens of thousands of people leave Massachusetts year after year, they’re answering a question with their feet.

Massachusetts keeps losing residents. That’s a choice. - The Boston Globe When tens of thousands of people leave year after year, they’re answering a question with their feet.

The N**i architect who designed Auschwitz’s facilities for incinerating Jews on an industrial scale went into private practice after the war. He designed churches and received a papal honor — but he never paid for his crimes.

Here's my new Boston Globe Opinion column.

The drawing that killed my father’s family - The Boston Globe What a pristine N**i blueprint reveals about professional complicity in genocide.

The first recorded acts of civil disobedience were committed by two humble midwives who defied Pharaoh's order to kill Hebrew babies. 3,300 years later, their principle endures: Some orders must be refused, regardless of who issues them or what punishment follows.

From my latest Arguable newsletter, an essay on the tradition of moral courage — from ancient Egypt to the Underground Railroad to Martin Luther King Jr. to our own time:

From two midwives in Egypt to Martin Luther King AROUND THE corner from my home in Brookline, Mass., is the William Ingersoll Bowditch House at 9 Toxteth Street. In the 1840s and 1850s, the house was a "station" on the Underground Railroad, part of the elaborate network of secret routes and safe havens

💚January 14, 1996. The best and smartest thing I ever did, I did 30 years ago today. 💚

Year in, year out, Massachusetts remains one of the states that people most want to leave. In U-Haul's 2025 tally, Massachusetts once again ranked in the Bottom 5, along with New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California.

Massachusetts Ranks Bottom Five In U-Haul Growth Index Again Massachusetts ranked 46th in U-Haul’s 2026 Growth Index, remaining in the bottom five nationally as policy groups warn high taxes and rising costs are driving residents out.

From Lincoln to Eisenhower to Reagan to the Bushes, nearly all Republican presidents believed ego was a liability and humility a strength. Reagan's Oval Office sign read: 'There is no limit to what a man can do if he doesn't mind who gets the credit.' Trump's narcissistic obsession with putting his name or face on everything — park passes, warships, a $1 coin, government websites, even the Kennedy Center — breaks completely with this tradition.

Trump's ego isn't just unpresidential. It's un-Republican. DONALD TRUMP'S obsession with putting his name and face on things long ago passed the point of parody. So far in his second term as president, Trump has moved to affix his name or picture to public buildings and government websites, to national park

What does it mean when Jews in America need armed guards to pray — and their neighbors don’t? From my latest Arguable newsletter, here is a Christmas-season essay about fear, faith, and silence.

Would Jesus be safe in a synagogue today? - The Boston Globe The golden age has been replaced by a grim new reality in which antisemitism is being normalized with terrifying speed.

From my Boston Globe column today:

"Birthright citizenship expresses a core American value: Children born on American soil begin life as equals, not as inheritors of their parents’ legal disadvantages. To rip that principle out of the Constitution would warp the meaning of American citizenship into something narrower, meaner, and unworthy of a confident nation."

Citizenship by birth is America at its best - The Boston Globe A principle rooted in the Constitution and reinforced by long experience cannot be undone at a president’s whim.