Erwin Chemerinsky on Objective Judging
Michael Ramsey

At Constitution Daily, Erwin Chemerinsky: There is No Such Thing as Objective Judging. Here is an excerpt:  There is no such thing as objective constitutional law, or objective law in any area. Supreme Court justices inevitably must make value choices in deciding cases, and these decisions inherently are a product of their life experiences and views. […]

Jeremy Christiansen: Returning to the Original Meaning of State Prohibitions on Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
Michael Ramsey

Jeremy Christiansen (Independent) has posted Returning to the Original Meaning of State Prohibitions on Unreasonable Searches and Seizures on SSRN. Here is the abstract:  All fifty states have search and seizure provisions in their state constitutions. And the overwhelming majority of those states have opted to interpret those provisions as including an exclusionary rule, similar to […]

Seth Barrett Tillman (and Others) on Zivotofsky
Michael Ramsey

Seth Barrett Tillman sends this comment: You wrote: "But, Congress must always act pursuant to the powers given to it in the Constitution." See http://originalismblog.typepad.com/the-originalism-blog/2014/11/kontorovich-v-ramsey-on-zivotofskymichael-ramsey.html (11/7/2014). You considered several Article I powers (e.g., commerce & naturalisation) which might support Congress' purported power to control passport design. But you rejected those Article I powers as insufficient to authorise […]

Brian Bix: New Legal Realism and the Explanation of Judicial Behavior
Michael Ramsey

Brian Bix (University of Minnesota Law School) has posted New Legal Realism and the Explanation of Judicial Behavior: Doctrine, Data, and High Theory on SSRN. Here is the abstract:  This article was originally presented at the New Legal Realism 10th Anniversary Conference, held at the University of California-Irvine Law School in August 2014, for the panel, […]

Alison LaCroix: Redeeming Bond?
Michael Ramsey

In the current issue of the Harvard Law Review Forum, Alison LaCroix (University of Chicago Law School) has the article Redeeming Bond? (128 Harv. L. Rev. F. 31 (Nov. 2014)) (responding to Heather K. Gerken, The Supreme Court, 2013 Term — Comment: Slipping the Bonds of Federalism, 128 Harv L. Rev. 85, 90 (2014)). From the introduction:  […]

Josh Blackman: The Burden of Judging
Michael Ramsey

Josh Blackman (South Texas College of Law) has posted The Burden of Judging (8 NYU Journal of Law & Liberty 1105) on SSRN.  Here is the abstract:  Constitutional law is built on the bedrock foundation that courts should defer to the democratic process, especially in the context of economic regulations, unless the law touches on […]