Historical Inquiry and Legal Concepts
Over at the Faculty Lounge, historian Saul Cornell has a guest post criticizing my recent post. In that post, I had criticized Richard Epstein’s freedom of speech interpretation based on a singular...
View ArticleHistorian, Cure Thyself
Over at the Faculty Lounge, Saul Cornell has another post criticizing me. Like his previous post, Saul’s post is filled with overheated rhetoric – more on this below. He responds to a post I wrote...
View ArticleOriginalism 101 (Part I)
Recently, Larry Solum put up a Legal Theory Lexicon entry on Originalism. For those who are not familiar with these entries, they are short discussions of legal theory topics for first year law...
View ArticleThe Interpretation-Construction Distinction and Original Methods Originalism
Over at the Legal Theory Blog, Larry Solum has a Legal Theory Lexicon post on The Interpretation-Construction Distinction. The post is an excellent one and Larry has certainly done much to develop...
View ArticleBerman and Toh on the New and Old Originalism: Part III – McGinnis and Rappaport
(In Parts One and Two of this post, I criticized Berman and Toh’s discussion of the New and Old Originalism. Here I take issue with their treatment of my own work.) Berman and Toh also discuss my...
View ArticleMcGinnis and Rappaport at the Volokh Conspiracy
This week John McGinnis and I are guest blogging at the Volokh Conspiracy on our new book, Originalism and the Good Constitution. Each day we will be addressing a different aspect of the book -- the...
View ArticleClarifying Originalism: A Response to Randy Barnett
(This post is written jointly by John McGinnis and Michael Rappaport). We were surprised and puzzled by Randy Barnett’s post complaining that we had not fairly represented his views on originalism in...
View ArticleThickening Originalism
The most important recent development in originalism has been the recognition that the Constitution was not created ex nihilo but against a pervasive legal background. As result, its interpretative...
View ArticleThick Originalism as a Constraint on Ideology
My last post described the most important recent trend in originalism—the thickening of meaning by reference to the pervasiveness of the Constitution’s legal background. Legal rules at the time of the...
View ArticleThe Foreign Emoluments Clause II: Inferences from the Interpretive Rules
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).In my previous post concerning the Foreign Emoluments Clause, I provided evidence from Rob...
View ArticleHas Originalism Been Tried?
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).Last weekend was the annual Originalism Works in Progress Conference at the University of San...
View ArticleThe Constitution Is Written in the Language of the Law
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).The Constitution has launched hundreds of debates about its meaning. But before these...
View ArticleOriginal Methods Originalism Part I: The Basic Idea and the Different Versions
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).One approach to constitutional originalism is called original methods originalism, which John...
View ArticleOriginal Methods Originalism Part II: The Convergence Thesis and the Language...
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).In my last post I discussed the basic idea of original methods originalism and the different...
View ArticleOriginal Methods Originalism Part III: The Minimization of the Construction...
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).In this third post on Original Methods Originalism, I want to conclude by explaining how...
View ArticleOriginalist Scholarship Relying on the Language of the Law–Part I
Participants in the Women's March in St. Paul, Minnesota, January 21st, 2016 (Ken Wolter/Shutterstock.com).We have recently written a paper arguing that the Constitution is written in the language of...
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The Legal Turn
We argue that the U.S. Constitution was written in the language of the law, and that treating it as a legal document strengthens originalism. Responses Original Methods Originalism Is Already the Norm...
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Original Methods Originalism Is Already the Norm
Unless one thinks that the Constitution doesn’t matter or shouldn’t be enforced, it’s a legal text that legal training can help explicate. In response to: The Legal Turn More Responses The Legal U-Turn...
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The Legal U-Turn
On the rare occasion when the public meaning diverges from the legal meaning, the public meaning probably ought to prevail. In response to: The Legal Turn More Responses Original Methods Originalism Is...
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Originalism’s Circle of Life
A core aspect of the new originalism is best understood as a shift to originalism as a theory of law. In response to: The Legal Turn More Responses Original Methods Originalism Is Already the Norm by...
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