Solicitor General Misquotes Citizenship Clause in Otherwise Excellent Brief
Andrew Hyman
The docket for the birthright citizenship case is available here. The government’s March 19 reply brief is included there. Unfortunately, at page 8 of the reply brief, the latter part of the Citizenship Clause is misquoted: “are citizens of the United States and of the States wherein they reside.” The actual clause contains one less letter: […]
Ed Whelan on Statutory Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey
At Bench Memos, Ed Whelan asks: Will Birthright-Citizenship Case Be Decided on Statutory Grounds? (specifically, 8 U.S.C. § 1401(a), which repeats the language of the citizenship clause). As he summarizes the government’s position: The meaning of section 1401(a) depends on what the Citizenship Clause actually means, not what Congress thought it meant in 1940 or […]
Ed Whelan Reviews James Rosen’s “Scalia: Supreme Court Years”
Michael Ramsey
In the Washington Free Beacon, Ed Whelan: Scalia Ascendant (reviewing “Scalia: Supreme Court Years, 1986-2001” by James Rosen). From the introduction: Antonin Scalia’s jurisprudential legacy has flourished far beyond what anyone might have reasonably imagined at the time of his death 10 years ago. By keeping his Supreme Court seat open through the 2016 presidential […]
Jack Thorlin: The Original Defensive War Power
Michael Ramsey
Jack Thorlin (University of Arkansas) has posted The Original Defensive War Power (57 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In justifying recent military actions lacking congressional authorization, presidents have invoked a “defensive” war power to justify everything from attacks on drug boats to air battles over Israel to the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. […]
John Wrench: The Original Meaning of “Searches”
Michael Ramsey
John Wrench (Institute for Justice) has posted The Original Meaning of “Searches” (29 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law (forthcoming 2027)) (31 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Fourth Amendment doctrine currently treats “searches” not as an ordinary word, but as a term of art whose content is derived from judgments about privacy, property, […]
Ilan Wurman Responds on Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey
Ilan Wurman (University of Minnesota Law School) has posted Jurisdiction and Citizenship: A Reply (101 Notre Dame Law Review Reflection __ (2026)) (23 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Newton’s laws of physics work most of the time here on earth because of earth’s weak gravitational field and relatively slow velocity. But those laws do […]
Congratulations to Professor Joel Alicea…
Michael Ramsey
…winner of the Federalist Society’s 2026 Joseph Story Award. The Society notes that the award recognizes a young academic who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact in a manner that advances the rule of law in a free society. […]
Philip Hamburger: Campbell’s Constitution
Michael Ramsey
Philip Hamburger (Columbia University Law School) has posted Campbell’s Constitution (43 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Rights are under assault from an unexpected direction: originalism. A series of articles by Professor Jud Campbell (most recently in the Harvard Law Review) takes aim at my prior scholarship to challenge the view that constitutional rights were […]
Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities Symposium on Jonathan Gienapp
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities’ Symposium in Honor of Jonathan Gienapp’s Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique (vol. 36.3, 2026). Here are the contributions: 1. William Baude and Stephen E. Sachs, Yes, The Founders Were Originalists 2. Mary Sarah Bilder, The Free Constitution: The Real Genius of the Constitution 3. Thomas B. Colby, […]
Samarth Desai on Originalism in the Birthright Citizenship Litigation
Michael Ramsey
At SCOTUSblog, Samarth Desai (Yale JD ’26): Birthright citizenship: Originalism 101. From the introduction: These days, everyone wants to be an originalist. But in Trump v. Barbara, the birthright-citizenship case at the Supreme Court, not everyone is doing originalism well. Alas, the Trump administration and its allies – including solicitor general D. John Sauer, law professor […]