Michael Rappaport: Reconciling the Unitary Executive and the Opinions Clause
Mike Rappaport
From my recent essay on the Opinions Clause: One of the strongest arguments against the unitary executive interpretation of the Constitution is based on the Opinions Clause. If the President has constitutional authority to direct executive branch officials, why was a clause that authorized him to “require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer […]
César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández on Justice Story and Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey
Ar SCOTUSblog, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Misusing history to limit birthright citizenship. From the introduction: President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship is back before the Supreme Court. Unlike the last time that challenges to the policy reached the justices – when they focused on a procedural issue – the Justice Department is now asking the court […]
Gerard Magliocca: Gypsies And Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey
Gerard N. Magliocca (Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law) has posted Without Domicile Or Allegiance: Gypsies And Birthright Citizenship (21 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Essay argues that the invocations of gypsies (or Roma) during the debates on the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth […]
New Book: People v. The Court by David Sloss
Michael Ramsey
Recently published: People v. The Court – The Next Revolution in Constitutional Law, by David Sloss (Cambridge Univ. Press 2025). Here is the book description from the publisher: The Constitution divides power between the government and We the People. It grants We the People an affirmative, collective right to exercise control over the government through […]
Michael Rappaport: Reconciling the Unitary Executive and the Opinions Clause
Michael Ramsey
Michael B. Rappaport (University of San Diego School of Law) has posted Reconciling the Unitary Executive and the Opinions Clause (5 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: One of the most common arguments against the unitary executive interpretation of the Constitution is that it renders the Opinions Clause redundant. This essay argues that this claim […]
Ilan Wurman on Presidential Removal Power
Michael Ramsey
At Law & Liberty, Ilan Wurman (Minnesota): Removal Power and the Original Presidency. From the introduction: Caleb Nelson has recently weighed in with a long and thoughtful blog post on the so-called unitary executive debates and whether the president of the United States has a constitutional right to remove principal executive officers. Nelson is a famous […]
New Book: “Heritage Guide to the Constitution” (3rd ed.)
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution: Fully Revised Third Edition (Josh Blackman & John Malcolm, eds., 2025). Here is the book description from Amazon: A Neutral and Thorough Accounting of the Constitution’s Original Meaning Over the past two decades, the federal judiciary has increasingly grounded its cases in the Constitution’s original meaning. Students, […]
Arjan Heir: Originalism’s Stare Decisis Problem
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, in the UC Law Constitutional Quarterly, Arjan S. Heir (M.Phil. candidate and Gates Cambridge Scholar, University of Cambridge; J.D., Columbia Law School): Originalism’s Stare Decisis Problem: The Place of Precedent in Theories of Interpretation (52 UC Law SF Const. Q. 263 (2025)). Here is the abstract: Originalism is a prevalent approach to legal […]
Edward Foley on Originalism and Raced-Based Districting
Michael Ramsey
At SCOTUSblog, Edward Foley: Callais, originalism, and stare decisis. From the introduction: … Today, I want to accept [Justice] Barrett’s proposition that originalism is the correct way to interpret the Constitution and consider the implication of that proposition for one of the most important cases on the court’s docket this year: Louisiana v. Callais. As […]
Orin Kerr on Originalism and Case v. Montana
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, Orin Kerr: Thoughts on Case v. Montana and the Standards for the Emergency Aid Exception. From the introduction: It’s been a long, long time since the Supreme Court heard argument in a real Fourth Amendment case. This Wednesday, the Court will finally break the spell with argument in Case v. Montana. … … William Case, […]