Cisco v. Doe Argument Update: Congratulations to Professors Bellia and Clark
Michael Ramsey
Congratulations to originalist scholars Anthony Bellia Jr. (Notre Dame ) and Bradford Clark (George Washington), whose scholarship was discussed in yesterday’s Supreme Court oral argument in Cisco Systems v. Doe: JUSTICE BARRETT: So one difficulty or question, I should say, that I have about your front-line argument about freezing this with the Blackstone three [ed.: […]
Cisco v. Doe (Alien Tort Statute) Argument Today
Michael Ramsey
The Supreme Court argument in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe is today (SCOTUSBlog summary here) — the questions presented are: (1) Whether the Alien Tort Statute allows a judicially-implied private right of action for aiding and abetting; and (2) whether the Torture Victim Protection Act allows a judicially-implied private right of action for aiding and abetting. The first […]
Karen Tani & Christen Hammock Jones: Unwanted Histories
Michael Ramsey
Karen Tani (University of Pennsylvania Law School; University of Pennsylvania- History) and Christen Hammock Jones (JD, Columbia Law School ’20; University of Pennsylvania – PhD candidate in History) have posted Unwanted Histories (76 Duke L.J. 1265 (2026)) (46 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s turn to history as a method of […]
Anthony Bellia & Bradford Clark: The Federalism Canons as Ordinary Interpretation
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, Anthony J. Bellia Jr. (Notre Dame Law School) & Bradford R. Clark (George Washington University Law School): The Federalism Canons as Ordinary Interpretation (120 Northwestern U. L. Rev. 991 (2026)) (51 pages). Here is the abstract: Scholars remain generally skeptical of substantive canons of statutory interpretation even as courts continue to employ such […]
Another Biography of Justice Alito, from Mollie Hemingway
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, by Mollie Hemingway: Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution (Basic Liberty 2026). Here is the book description from Amazon: Justice Samuel Alito, the unflinching author of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, is so influential that many now refer to the “Alito Court.” But his […]
Josh Blackman on (Not) Overruling Employment Division v. Smith
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, Josh Blackman: The Court Has No Interest In Overruling Smith. From the introduction: [Last Monday] the Court granted cert in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy. The petition presented three questions: 1. Whether proving a lack of general applicability under Employment Division v. Smith requires showing unfettered discretion or categorical exemptions for identical secular conduct. […]
Richard Primus: Is the Oldest Constitutional Question Substantive or Methodological?
Michael Ramsey
Richard Primus (University of Michigan Law School) has posted Is the Oldest Constitutional Question Substantive or Methodological? (Texas A&M Law Review) (35 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: My recent book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power is about the extent of the power of Congress. But it’s also about how constitutional interpretation actually […]
Jamie McWilliam: Arms
Michael Ramsey
Jamie G. McWilliam (University of Wyoming – Firearms Research Center; J.D., Harvard Law School, ’22) has posted Arms (101 Tul. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026-2027)) (51 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen reoriented Second Amendment doctrine around text and history but left unresolved a foundational threshold […]
Jalal Tarar & Shahbaz Tarar: Myth, Metaphysics, and the Afterlife of the Framers
Michael Ramsey
Jalal Tarar (BA-LLB & History, LUMS ’27) & Shahbaz Tarar (University of London ’24) have posted Constitutional Ghosts: Myth, Metaphysics, and the Afterlife of the Framers (21 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper examines the paradoxical role of the constitutional framer in judicial reasoning. While courts invoke the figure of the framer […]
Marco Basile: Old Textualism, New Juristocracy
Michael Ramsey
Marco Basile (Boston College Law School) has posted Old Textualism, New Juristocracy (New York University Law Review, Volume 101, forthcoming 2026) (75 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article traces the emergence of text-centric theories of legal interpretation in the early nineteenth century amid an increasingly writing-based legal culture. While many scholars and […]