Departments

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originalism

  • SOURCE: Politico
    6/26/2022

    On the Historical Dilettantes Practicing Originalism

    by Joshua Zeitz

    "The functional problem with originalism is that it requires a very, very firm grasp of history — a grasp that none of the nine justices, and certainly few of their 20-something law clerks, freshly minted from J.D. programs, possess."

  • SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
    3/1/2021

    Originalism’s Original Sin

    by Adam Shapiro

    Liberal critics should understand the ways that Constitutional originalism's practices of reading and resolving conflicts in the text owes a great deal to biblical literalism. Historians of religion can help understand what's at stake. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    10/25/2020

    Amy Coney Barrett’s Judicial Philosophy Doesn’t Hold Up to Scrutiny

    by Angus King and Heather Cox Richardson

    "To put it bluntly, the whole premise of originalism is nonsense in that it pretends to make the work of the Supreme Court look straightforward and mechanical, like 'calling balls and strikes,' in Justice John Roberts’s famous phase."

  • SOURCE: Made by History at The Washington Post
    10/26/2020

    Amy Coney Barrett’s Philosophy Has Far Worse Roots Than Most Americans Know

    by Simon Gilhooley

    At the core of originalism is a fundamentally conservative effort to limit the possibilities of our constitutional order to the imagination of historical figures from the 18th century, which included racial hierarchy and support for chattel slavery.

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    10/16/2020

    Which Constitution is Amy Coney Barrett Talking About?

    by Jamelle Bouie

    The Times columnist argues that the original meaning of the Reconstruction Amendments establishes a constitutional vision of equality and civil rights that conservative originalists ignore. 

  • SOURCE: Duke Center for Firearms Law
    10/14/2020

    Amy Coney Barrett on Guns

    by Jake Charles

    A Second Amendment scholar examines the SCOTUS nominee's historical interpretation of prohibitions on individual firearm ownership, concluding that her record shows a commitment to gun rights but uncertainty about how she might rule on particular cases.

  • SOURCE: Duke Center for Firearms Law
    10/7/2020

    Why Heller is Such Bad History

    by Noah Shusterman

    Antonin Scalia's opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller ignored the actual history of the early American militia in order to invent an individual right to gun ownership.

  • 10/27/19

    Why Originalism Should Apply to Impeachment

    by Donald J. Fraser

    I have never been a supporter of originalism. Until recently, I was also skeptical that impeachment was the right way to handle Donald Trump’s presidency. But I have recently changed my mind.