David Post on the Emoluments Clause and President Trump’s Chinese Trademark
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, David Post: Trump Conflicts Watch, 2: Where trademark law meets the foreign emoluments clause. From the introduction: The Associated Press (along with Japan Times and the Voice of America’s China Service) reports that President Trump, “after suffering rejection after rejection in China’s courts,” has finally gotten something “that he has been trying to get from China for […]
McGinnis and McConnell on Gorsuch and Originalism
Michael Ramsey
At Liberty Law Blog, John O. McGinnis: Gorsuch Nomination: Potentially the Best News for Originalism since 1987. Gorsuch is a fine nomination, a worthy successor to Justice Scalia in the three ways that count. First, he is an originalist. That matters, because the last two Republican appointees, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, have […]
Josh Blackman on Trump on Emoluments
Michael Ramsey
Josh Blackman notes that President-Elect Trump's lawyers have released an extensive analysis of the emoluments clause issue. The short version is that they accept that the clause is applicable to the President but deny that "emolument" includes ordinary business dealings. It is expressly originalist (and Scalian) in its foundation: The scope of any constitutional provision is determined by the […]
Originalism’s List of Infamy, and Should Printz v. United States Be on It?
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, Will Baude: Cases that are likely wrong as a matter of original meaning: What would you add to the list? (describing this essay (with Stephen Sachs) in the Green Bag). Here's the Baude/Sachs list: Home Building & Loan Ass’n v. Blaisdell, 290 U.S. 398, 444 (1934) Dames & Moore v. Regan, 453 U.S. 654 […]
Is the Electoral College Unconstitutional?
Michael Ramsey
In the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Jost argues that the system of presidential electors described in the Constitution is unconstitutional: The electoral college has always been the wrong way to choose a president. Truly: The electoral college ought to have been struck from the Constitution or invalidated by the Supreme Court long ago. Donald Trump’s electoral college victory — despite Hillary […]
Kevin Walsh on Originalism’s Endurance
Michael Ramsey
At Liberty Law Blog, Kevin Walsh: How Enduring Originalism Puts Real Jurisprudential Teeth in Originalism’s Bite (guest-blogging for December). From the introduction: This post answers the question that ended my last one, which is how seriously to take something Justice Kennedy wrote about the Fourteenth Amendment in judicially promulgating a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage. […]
Devin Watkins Responds on Liberty and Due Process
Michael Ramsey
At Liberty Law Blog, Devin Watkins: Defining Liberty Properly. From the introduction: On the Originalism blog, Michael Ramsey and Andrew Hyman responded to my post for Law and Liberty on the original understanding of substantive due process. Hyman disputes the definition of “liberty” I provided and asserts a different definition of “due process of law” […]
Randy Barnett on Supreme Court Nominees, Originalism, and Stare Decisis
Michael Ramsey
Randy Barnett in the Wall Street Journal: Two Questions for Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Nominees On Trump’s commitment to originalism: I’m pleased to see that President-elect Trump is echoing Scalia. Last week Mr. Trump’s transition team affirmed that he will nominate judges “who are committed to interpreting the Constitution and laws according to their original public meaning.” […]
2016 Federalist Society Lawyers Convention (with Trump Short-Listers)
Michael Ramsey
This year’s Federalist Society Lawyers Convention is being held today through Saturday in Washington DC; the theme is “The Jurisprudence and Legacy of Justice Scalia.” Speakers include Justices Alito and Thomas, plus (it appears) at least nine of the Supreme Court short-listers: Judges Stephen Colloton, Allison Eid, Thomas Hardiman, Raymond Kethledge, Joan Larsen, William Pryor, David Stras, […]
James Rogers on Judicial Review as a Moral Hazard
Michael Ramsey
At Liberty Law Blog, James R. Rogers (Texas A&M, Political Science): Judicial Review as Moral Hazard for Legislators and Citizens. From the introduction: It seems straightforward. A judge takes a law, sets it next to the Constitution, and determines whether the “latter squares with the former.” There is a long tradition, however, arguing that this […]