Aaron Nielson: Aggregrating Original Meaning
Michael Ramsey
Aaron L. Nielson (University of Texas at Austin – School of Law) has posted Aggregrating Original Meaning (Columbia Law Review, Vol. 127, forthcoming 2026) (53 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Public-meaning originalism—the theory that the meaning of legal texts, including the U.S. Constitution, is fixed when authoritatively adopted and binding until authoritatively changed—is ascendant. […]
Cisco v. Doe Argument Update: Congratulations to Professors Bellia and Clark
Michael Ramsey
Congratulations to originalist scholars Anthony Bellia Jr. (Notre Dame ) and Bradford Clark (George Washington), whose scholarship was discussed in yesterday’s Supreme Court oral argument in Cisco Systems v. Doe: JUSTICE BARRETT: So one difficulty or question, I should say, that I have about your front-line argument about freezing this with the Blackstone three [ed.: […]
Cisco v. Doe (Alien Tort Statute) Argument Today
Michael Ramsey
The Supreme Court argument in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe is today (SCOTUSBlog summary here) — the questions presented are: (1) Whether the Alien Tort Statute allows a judicially-implied private right of action for aiding and abetting; and (2) whether the Torture Victim Protection Act allows a judicially-implied private right of action for aiding and abetting. The first […]
Karen Tani & Christen Hammock Jones: Unwanted Histories
Michael Ramsey
Karen Tani (University of Pennsylvania Law School; University of Pennsylvania- History) and Christen Hammock Jones (JD, Columbia Law School ’20; University of Pennsylvania – PhD candidate in History) have posted Unwanted Histories (76 Duke L.J. 1265 (2026)) (46 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s turn to history as a method of […]
Anthony Bellia & Bradford Clark: The Federalism Canons as Ordinary Interpretation
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, Anthony J. Bellia Jr. (Notre Dame Law School) & Bradford R. Clark (George Washington University Law School): The Federalism Canons as Ordinary Interpretation (120 Northwestern U. L. Rev. 991 (2026)) (51 pages). Here is the abstract: Scholars remain generally skeptical of substantive canons of statutory interpretation even as courts continue to employ such […]
Another Biography of Justice Alito, from Mollie Hemingway
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, by Mollie Hemingway: Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution (Basic Liberty 2026). Here is the book description from Amazon: Justice Samuel Alito, the unflinching author of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, is so influential that many now refer to the “Alito Court.” But his […]
Josh Blackman on (Not) Overruling Employment Division v. Smith
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, Josh Blackman: The Court Has No Interest In Overruling Smith. From the introduction: [Last Monday] the Court granted cert in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy. The petition presented three questions: 1. Whether proving a lack of general applicability under Employment Division v. Smith requires showing unfettered discretion or categorical exemptions for identical secular conduct. […]
Richard Primus: Is the Oldest Constitutional Question Substantive or Methodological?
Michael Ramsey
Richard Primus (University of Michigan Law School) has posted Is the Oldest Constitutional Question Substantive or Methodological? (Texas A&M Law Review) (35 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: My recent book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power is about the extent of the power of Congress. But it’s also about how constitutional interpretation actually […]
Jamie McWilliam: Arms
Michael Ramsey
Jamie G. McWilliam (University of Wyoming – Firearms Research Center; J.D., Harvard Law School, ’22) has posted Arms (101 Tul. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026-2027)) (51 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen reoriented Second Amendment doctrine around text and history but left unresolved a foundational threshold […]
Jalal Tarar & Shahbaz Tarar: Myth, Metaphysics, and the Afterlife of the Framers
Michael Ramsey
Jalal Tarar (BA-LLB & History, LUMS ’27) & Shahbaz Tarar (University of London ’24) have posted Constitutional Ghosts: Myth, Metaphysics, and the Afterlife of the Framers (21 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper examines the paradoxical role of the constitutional framer in judicial reasoning. While courts invoke the figure of the framer […]