Originalism and the Good Constitution at the Cato Institute
Mike Rappaport
Last week, John McGinnis and I appeared at the Cato Institute to make a presentation on our book, Originalism and the Good Constitution. The event was moderated by Trevor Burrus of Cato and commentary was supplied by Roger Pilon of Cato and by Brianne Gorad of the Constitutional Accountability Center. You can watch the video here. Roger […]
Originalism and Ideology
Mike Rappaport
I missed this article – Originalists, Politics, and Criminal Law on the Rehnquist Court by Rachel Barkow – when it came out, but I thought this part of the abstract was interesting: By reviewing all of the Rehnquist Court's criminal opinions in argued cases during the ten-year period from the October 1994 Term through the 2003 Term, […]
Should Congress Adopt a New Independent Counsel Statute? The Policy Issues
Mike Rappaport
Having addressed the constitutional issues, I now turn to the policy issues Would it be a good idea to have a new IC statute? This is a complicated issue and not one I have fully made my mind up about. But if Congress were to enact a new IC statute, I believe there is a reform […]
Should Congress Adopt a New Independent Counsel Statute? The Constitutional Issues
Mike Rappaport
One of the principal concerns about the Obama Administration are the scandals and the claims that it is violating the law. And sadly the congressional investigation process does not seem to be adequately doing its job. Thus, it is worthwhile thinking about alternative institutions. The principal method used back in the 80s and 90s was […]
The Constitution and Omega Glory
Mike Rappaport
Recently, Bryan Caplan put up a Facebook post by “political scientist and game designer Chris McGlothlin” on the Star Trek episode Omega Glory. That is the one where Kirk goes to a planet and instructs the Yangs about their document, “The Constitution of the United States.” The Yangs – through centuries of decline – cannot even read […]
Reinvigorating the Nondelegation Doctrine through the Constitutional Amendment Process
Mike Rappaport
One of the ways that small government and democratic accountability could be promoted in the modern world is through the reinvigoration of the nondelegation doctrine. Under that doctrine, administrative agencies would be prohibited from making discretionary legislative decisions and therefore Congress would have to do so. If Congress, rather than administrative agencies, were to make […]
The Drafters and the Ratifiers
Mike Rappaport
It is sometimes said that the ratifiers of the Constitution should count more in determining its original meaning than the drafters. I am not so sure. To begin with, this distinguishing between the drafters and the ratifiers appears to turn on an original intent (versus an original public meaning) understanding of originalism. Under an original […]
Justice Scalia, Ordinary Meanings, and Legal Meanings
Mike Rappaport
Mike Ramsey, Ilya Somin, and now Tim Sandefur have been having a debate over whether the original meaning of the Constitution should be interpreted in accordance with the meaning as understood by the ordinary public or by people with legal knowledge. I may have more to say about this next week, but for now I […]
Originalism and Current Practices
Mike Rappaport
With a view towards President Obama’s military actions against ISIS, Mike Ramsey has a good post on whether the significant limits imposed by the Constitution’s original meaning on the President’s power to initiate hostilities operate to place inconvenient constraints on the US’s ability to take desirable actions. Mike concludes that the original meaning’s constraints, while considerable, would […]
An Originalist Future
Mike Rappaport
John McGinnis and I have a new essay, An Originalist Future, describing what the world would like if originalism became the dominant method of constitutional interpretation. See here and here. It is based in part on the last chapter of our book, Originalism and the Good Constitution, but goes beyond that chapter. In the essay, we write: Reviving a […]