How Determinate is Originalism? (Michael Dorf versus Larry Solum) [Updated]
Michael Ramsey
Michael Dorf at Dorf on Law: How Determinate is Originalism in Practice? (He says: not very). From the introduction: When originalism began gaining traction in the 1970s and 1980s, its proponents frequently cited its supposed constraining impact on judges as a virtue. This claim fit well both with originalism's ideological origins and its nature at the time. […]
Mark David Hall and Emily-Lynn Warren on Patrick Henry’s Impact on the Declaration and the Constitution
Michael Ramsey
Mark David Hall and Emily-Lynn Warren at Liberty Law Blog: The Fiery Patrick Henry. From the introduction: In 1775, a 36-year-old named Patrick Henry swung the balance of the Second Virginia Convention with these words: Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace […]
Gerard Magliocca on Ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment
Michael Ramsey
At Concurring Opinions, some interesting questions from Gerard Magliocca. First: The Ratification of the ERA. From the introduction: A few months ago, Nevada ratified the Equal Rights Amendment proposed by Congress in 1972. I have no idea if this was done for symbolic reasons or from a genuine desire to see the ERA ratified. Nevada’s action, […]
Emoluments Clause Originalism from Daniel Hemel and Leah Litman
Michael Ramsey
Daniel Hemel (Chicago) and Leah Litman (UCI) at Take Care Blog: The Plaintiffs in CREW v. Trump Deserve To Have Their Claims Heard. From the introduction: The Trump Justice Department has told a federal district court in New York that it lacks jurisdiction to hear the claims of plaintiffs who are challenging the President’s violations of […]
More from Asher Steinberg on Textualist and the Supreme Court’s 2016 Term
Michael Ramsey
Asher Steinberg at The Narrowest Grounds: Supreme Court 2016 Term in Review: (Apparent) Mistake, Another Textualist Possibility Unexplored in SW General. From the introduction: Have you ever said to someone, "I don't think that means what you think it means," or more declaratively, "that doesn't mean what you think it means"? If so, you're familiar with the […]
Ilan Wurman on Madison’s Case for Originalism
Michael Ramsey
Ilan Wurman at Newsmax: Madison Rebutted Jefferson with “Debt Against the Living” Proposition. From the introduction: It has become fashionable to argue that we are no longer bound to the Constitution — at least not to the Constitution of our Founders. “Why do we care about the Framers of the Constitution?” asks law professor David Strauss of […]
Josh Blackman: David Souter the Originalist
Michael Ramsey
At Josh Blackman’s Blog: David Souter the Originalist. From the introduction: Unlike Justice Stevens, who has filled his retirement from acting status by writing books and railing against Justice Scalia, Justice Souter has continued to perform yeoman’s work through sitting by designation on the First Circuit. At this point, Souter has probably heard more cases on the First […]
Justice Thomas Lee and Stephen Mouritsen on Corpus Linguistics and Judicial Interpretation
Michael Ramsey
Justice Thomas Lee and Stephen Mouritsen are guest-blogging at The Volokh Conspiracy on corpus linguistics. Here is their first post: Judging Ordinary Meaning with Corpus Linguistics. From the introduction: We are grateful to Eugene Volokh for the invitation to discuss corpus linguistics generally and our forthcoming article, “Judging Ordinary Meaning,” in particular. Corpus linguistics is […]
Reactions to Tillman and Blackman’s Amicus Brief on Emoluments and the President
Michael Ramsey
Gautham Rao (American University, History) & Jed Handelsman Shugerman (Fordham) at Slate: Presidential Revisionism: The New York Times published the flimsiest defense of Trump’s apparent emoluments violations yet. From the introduction: The Framers of the Constitution were deeply committed to preventing the corruption of their new republic. In fact, their anger over the corruption of […]
Brianne Gorod on the Domestic Emoluments Clause
Michael Ramsey
Brianne J. Gorod at Take Care Blog: New White Paper on Trump and the Domestic Emoluments Clause. From the introduction: Six months into Donald Trump’s presidency, the legal troubles faced by this President and his Administration appear to be growing on a daily basis. While much of the current focus is, quite reasonably, on dealings […]