Bad form
Mike Rappaport
I am not exactly sure whether this post belongs on the Originalism Blog, but I think it does. Some might regard it as "political" but originalism is often subject to political attack. In a recent essay, Randall Kennedy repeats the familiar charge against Clarence Thomas: He just was not smart enough for the job. And, […]
Originalism in the Blogs: The Guarantee Clause
Michael Ramsey
At Balkinization, Jason Mazzone: On the Guarantee Clause (responding to this post by Jack Balkin). SOMEWHAT RELATED: George Will on a different sort of Guarantee Clause argument: In Colorado, Colliding Views of the Proper Form of Government.
More on Scalia, Property and Precedent
Michael Ramsey
Ilya Somin: Scalia Predicts Kelo Will Be Overruled. Kelo v. City of New London is the 2005 Supreme Court decision that held that a local government could forcibly transfer property from one private owner to another private owner. I’ve previously argued that its holding is inconsistent with the original meaning of the takings clause, which […]
Originalism in the Blogs: The Meaning of Property (Updated)
Michael Ramsey
Ilya Somin at Volokh Conspiracy: A Real Live Violation of the Third Amendment (discussing Tom Bell’s new article Property in the Constitution: A View from the Third Amendment). Here is Professor Bell’s abstract from SSRN: During World War II, after Japan attacked the Aleutian Islands off Alaska’s coast, the United States forcibly evacuated the islands’ natives […]
Third Annual Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference at San Diego
Mike Rappaport
The University of San Diego's Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism is holding its Third Annual Works-in-Progress Conference on Feb. 3-4, 2012. Here is the slate of speakers and commentators: 1. Garrett Epps (Baltimore): The Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment: The Case for “Narrative Originalism” Commentator: Chris Green (Mississippi) 2. […]
Al-Awlaki as a Bill of Attainder
Michael Ramsey
Ryan Alford, whose forthcoming article I mentioned in a previous post, writes to clarify that his principal originalist argument against the al-Awlaki operation in that article is under the bill of attainder clause (Article I, Section 9), not the due process clause. He also points out this outstanding online symposium at Cato Unbound, featuring a shorter […]
More on Scalia and Thomas
Mike Rappaport
Ralph Rossum, a professor at Claremont McKenna College, recently had an op ed piece on Thomas and Scalia. Take a look. Rossum knows quite a bit about this subject. He has published a book entitled Antonin Scalia's Jurisprudence: Text and Tradition, and is now writing a book entitled The Jurisprudence of Clarence Thomas: Constitutional Restoration.
Originalism in the Blogs
Michael Ramsey
At Balkinization, Jason Mazzone: Why the Individual Mandate is Still Unprecedented. Professor Mazzone's important post addresses a key contention in the debate over the Affordable Care Act: that it is unprecedented for Congress to require ordinary citizens to purchase a product. The response is that Congress (supposedly) did so in the 1792 Militia Act, which appears […]
Scalia’s Jurisprudence
Mike Rappaport
Mike Ramsey sort of takes issue with my claim that Justice Scalia is more pragmatic or less principled than Justice Thomas. I say, sort of, because he seems to acknowledge what is my main point. I wrote, as Mike quotes: Scalia appears to be less principled – or to put it differently, more pragmatic – […]
A Comment on Rappaport on Scalia
Michael Ramsey
In noting Justice Thomas’ 20 years on the Supreme Court, my co-blogger Mike Rappaport writes, somewhat in passing and without elaboration: Scalia appears to be less principled – or to put it differently, more pragmatic – than Thomas. Scalia is more likely to compromise on his originalism than Thomas is, departing from originalism without stating […]