Feldman’s Review of McDowell
Mike Rappaport
Mike Ramsey notes Stephen Feldman's review of Gary McDowell's book on originalism. I haven't read McDowell's book, but the review is a good example of the convention non-originalist view of originalism. It is a catalog of various criticism of originalism. As an originalist, I would say that the last generation has done much to rebut […]
More on Originalism and Social Security
Michael Ramsey
Reader Peter Zavodnyik writes to dispute my originalist defense of Social Security: [I]t seems to me that there is little if any evidence that the broad (Hamiltonian) view of the general welfare clause was disseminated widely at the time of ratification (it was mentioned mostly in private correspondence). The states ratified the Constitution on the […]
Originalism in the Blogs
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, Nicholas Rosenkranz concludes his excellent series of posts on "The Subjects of the Constitution." This series is worth a careful read in full, as it is to my knowledge by far the most sophisticated textualist exploration of the puzzle facial and as-applied challenges, an extraordinarily confused and undertheorized area of constitutional law. […]
An Originalist Defense of Social Security
Michael Ramsey
With Rick Perry questioning the constitutionality of Social Security and Mitt Romney attacking him for it, Andy McCarthy at NRO challenges Romney to explain his own constitutional position in this insightful post: Questions for Governor Romney on the Constitutionality of Social Security. McCarthy doesn’t say so directly, but his post implies substantial sympathy with Perry’s […]
Originalism in the Blogs
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, more from guest-blogger Nicholas Rosenkranz: Who Has Violated the Constitution? UPDATE: An additional, and very useful, new post in this series: The Subject of the Commerce Clause.
Substantive Due Process Part III: Complications
Mike Rappaport
After quite a delay, this is my third post on substantive due process. In my first post, I discussed the evolution of my personal views on substantive due process. In my second post, I described Ryan Williams new article, The One and Only Substantive Due Process Clause, which argues that the original meaning of the […]
Originalism in the Blogs
Michael Ramsey
This week, The Volokh Conspiracy will host another outstanding guest-blogger of originalist interest, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz. UPDATE: Here is Professor Rosenkranz's first post: The Subjects of the Constitution.
Originalism and Classic Cases: Nollan v. California Coastal Commission
Michael Ramsey
With this post I’m going to start an occasional originalist commentary on cases I’m teaching in this semester’s Constitutional Law II course. The case I’ll focus on here is Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, which we covered last week. Nollan, I think, poses a serious challenge to originalism, for reasons I’ll explain. (Disclaimer: Nollan is […]
Originalism on the Web
Michael Ramsey
Vikram David Amar and David E. Brownstein, Is Rick Perry Right that the Seventeeth Amendment Was a Mistake?
Originalism on the Web
Michael Ramsey
The new issue of Engage magazine, the journal of the Federalist Society practice groups (volume 12, issue 2), is now available. It includes the following articles, many of which are of originalist interest: Special Edition: Templeton Debates The Constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Richard A. Epstein & Jesse H. Choper […]