Josh Blackman on the Establishment Clause and the States
Michael Ramsey
At Civitas Outlook, Josh Blackman: The Establishment Clause at the Second Founding. From the introduction: … [T]he relevant time frame to best understand the Establishment Clause for state religion cases should be 1868, not 1791. … During the late 1860s, the Reconstruction government worked closely to promote a bible-centric public education system in the South. In […]
Steven Douglas Smith: Impoverished Jurisprudence, Beleaguered Judiciary
Michael Ramsey
Steven Douglas Smith (University of San Diego School of Law) has posted Impoverished Jurisprudence, Beleaguered Judiciary (27 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Founders took thought and then set up, in Article III, an institutional structure for the judiciary that seemed to them sound. A central goal of that structure was to assure judicial […]
New Book: “So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country” by Justice Alito
Michael Ramsey
Published this week, So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country by Justice Samuel Alito (Basic Liberty, 2026). Here is the book description from Amazon: Justice Samuel A. Alito elaborates on his judicial philosophy and reflects on the roles of the law, the Constitution, and the courts in preserving America’s […]
John Inazu: History, Tradition, and the Future of the Right of Assembly
Michael Ramsey
John D. Inazu (Washington University in St. Louis – School of Law) has posted Assembling the Past: History, Tradition, and the Future of the Right of Assembly (101 Notre Dame L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026)) (30 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract; This Article revisits the long-neglected Assembly Clause of the First Amendment in light […]
Seth Barrett Tillman on the New Emoluments Litigation
Michael Ramsey
At The Lemur, Maclain Conlin interviews Seth Barrett Tillman: An Exploration of the Original Public Meaning of the Domestic (Presidential) Emoluments Clause. From the introduction: Maclain Conlin: Before we delve into the legal arguments at stake in Sistrunk Seeds, Inc. v. Trump, could you please provide a brief overview of its fact pattern, the litigation which […]
Steven Calabresi on Justice Scalia
Michael Ramsey
At SCOTUSblog, Steven Calabresi: Justice Scalia’s originalist gambit. From the introduction: On the 40th anniversary of Justice Antonin Scalia’s swearing-in, I wanted to reflect on one major aspect of his legacy to the American people. As many SCOTUSblog readers are undoubtedly aware, Justice Scalia led the way to an astounding revival of textualism and originalism, […]
Chad Squitieri on the President’s Role in Lawmaking
Michael Ramsey
At SCOTUSblog, Chad Squitieri (Catholic): Respecting our multi-branch lawmaking process. From the introduction: [I]f the court wishes to better respect the Constitution’s design, the court should abandon its practice of regularly treating Congress as if that branch can unilaterally make law. Let’s start with some examples of the phenomenon in question. Judicial references to “Congress” […]
Eli Nachmany: Deference Undisturbed
Michael Ramsey
Eli Nachmany (Harvard Law School JD ’22) has posted Deference Undisturbed (101 Notre Dame Law Review 985 (2026)) (58 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s departure from Chevron deference threatened to upend the administrative state. To mitigate the consequences of its opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Court established […]
Vasan Kesavan: The Limits of Federal Judicial Discipline
Michael Ramsey
Vasan Kesavan (Independent) has posted The Limits of Federal Judicial Discipline (14 Tex. A & M L. Rev. (forthcoming 2027)) (83 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Federal judges, like other federal officials, sometimes misbehave. Judges may be impeached and removed from office for criminal and noncriminal misbehavior. Judges may be indicted, prosecuted, tried, convicted, […]
Saikrishna Prakash on Suncor v. Boulder County
Michael Ramsey
Originalist-oriented law professor Saikrishna Prakash (Virginia) has filed this amicus brief in support of petitioners in Suncor Energy (USA), Inc. v. Boulder County (to be argued at the Supreme Court on Monday, October 5). From the Introduction and Summary of Argument: Boulder would have this Court endorse a theory that would upend a world of […]