February 05, 2026

The seventeenth annual Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference, hosted by the University of San Diego Law School’s Center  for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, will take place tomorrow and Saturday, February 6 and 7.  Here is the schedule:

Friday, Feb. 6, 2026

2:30 – 3:00

Opening Remarks  Michael Rappaport (USD)

3:00 – 4:15

First Paper: Joseph Blocher (Duke) & Reva B. Siegel (Yale):  The Ambitions of History and Tradition in and Beyond the Second Amendment

Commentator: Joel Alicea (Catholic)

Moderator: Thomas Colby (George Washington)

4:15 – 4:30      Break

4:30 – 5:45

Second Paper: Keith Whittington (Yale): By Birth Alone: The Original Meaning of Birthright Citizenship and Subject to the Jurisdiction of the United States

Commentator: Thomas Lee (Fordham)

Moderator: David Upham (St. Thomas)

Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

9:30 – 10:45

Third Paper: Eric Claeys (Scalia):  The Police Power and the Fourteenth Amendment

Commentator: Michael McConnell (Stanford)

Moderator: Lorianne Updike Schulzke (Northern Illinois)

10:45 – 11:00  Break

11:00 – 12:15

Fourth Paper: Ryan Snyder (Missouri): Historical Practice at the Founding

Commentator: Aditya Bamzai (Virginia)

Moderator: Charles Capps (Arizona State)

12:15 – 1:15    Lunch

1:15 – 2:30

Fifth Paper:

Will Baude (Chicago): Crosskey’s Legacy

Commentator: Tara Grove (Texas)

Moderator: Erin Sheley (USD)

2:30 – 2:45      Break

2:45 – 4:00

Sixth Paper:

Christopher Green (Ohio State): Equal Citizenship Yes, Intermediate Scrutiny No

Commentator: Jack Balkin (Yale)

Moderator: Adam Griffin (DOJ)

4:00 – 4:15      Break

4:15 – 5:30

Seventh Paper: John Harrison (Virginia): Does the Constitution Give the United States Government General Authority to Act in the National Interest?

Commentator: John Mikhail (Georgetown)

Moderator: Maimon Schwarzschild (USD)

Posted at 6:03 AM