Lawrence Solum: For Constitutional Theory
Michael Ramsey
Lawrence B. Solum (University of Virginia School of Law) has posted For Constitutional Theory (California Law Review, forthcoming) (14 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Since the publication of James Bradley Thayer’s “The Origin and Scope of the American Doctrine of Constitutional Law” in 1893 there has been an outpouring of theorizing about constitutionalism in […]
Michael Paulsen: The Interpretive Force of Alexander Hamilton’s Early Expositions of Presidential Power [Updated]
<Michael Ramsey
Michael Stokes Paulsen (The University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)) has posted The Interpretive Force of Alexander Hamilton’s Early Expositions of Presidential Power (53 Pepp. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2026)) (22 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The most important, rightly influential, early interpretations of the Constitution on presidential power concerning matters of war, peace, […]
Clifford Bates on David Starkey on the British Constitution
Michael Ramsey
At Law & Liberty, Clifford Angell Bates Jr. (Warsaw University – American Studies): David Starkey’s Crowned Republic. From the introduction: As America teeters on the brink of its 250th anniversary as a sovereign republic in 2026, a fog of uncertainty shrouds the true meaning of freedom, rights too often reduced to slogans amid partisan strife. […]
Anuj Desai: Who is the Reader of Statutory Text?
Michael Ramsey
Anuj C. Desai (University of Wisconsin Law School) has posted Textualism Step Zero: Who is the Reader of Statutory Text? (66 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Textualists argue that judges should interpret statutes based on how a reasonable reader would understand the statutory text, not on the legislature’s subjective intent. But who is that […]
Scholars’ Amicus Brief in the Tariff Cases
Michael Ramsey
I joined this scholars’ amicus curiae brief in the tariff litigation, organized by Professor Sam Estreicher (NYU) and filed on Friday: Brief of Professors of Administrative Law, Separation of Powers, Foreign Relations Law, Legislation and the Regulatory State, and Trade Law as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioners in 24-1287 and Respondents in 25-250. We […]
Larry Alexander: Interpreting the Law and Complying with It
Michael Ramsey
Larry Alexander (University of San Diego School of Law) has posted Interpreting the Law and Complying with It (Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, Vol. 27, No. 1 (2025)) (13 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this Article, I am going to focus on a set of issues that follow from the fact that […]
Christopher Green: What Makes an Opinion Originalist?
Michael Ramsey
Christopher R. Green (Ohio State University) has posted What Makes an Opinion Originalist? (Florida Law Review, forthcoming) (26 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Is originalism the law today? Because judicial opinions are an important part of how we know the law, it is important exactly what makes a judicial opinion originalist. Lower courts interpreting […]
Michael Rappaport: Reconciling the Unitary Executive and the Opinions Clause
Mike Rappaport
From my recent essay on the Opinions Clause: One of the strongest arguments against the unitary executive interpretation of the Constitution is based on the Opinions Clause. If the President has constitutional authority to direct executive branch officials, why was a clause that authorized him to “require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer […]
César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández on Justice Story and Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey
Ar SCOTUSblog, César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Misusing history to limit birthright citizenship. From the introduction: President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship is back before the Supreme Court. Unlike the last time that challenges to the policy reached the justices – when they focused on a procedural issue – the Justice Department is now asking the court […]
Gerard Magliocca: Gypsies And Birthright Citizenship
Michael Ramsey
Gerard N. Magliocca (Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law) has posted Without Domicile Or Allegiance: Gypsies And Birthright Citizenship (21 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Essay argues that the invocations of gypsies (or Roma) during the debates on the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth […]