Mark Pulliam on Justice Gorsuch
Michael Ramsey
At Law and Liberty, Mark Pulliam: Explaining Originalism. From the introduction: America has produced many noteworthy economists, but few were as influential as Milton Friedman, the Nobel Prize winner long associated with the University of Chicago. Unlike many of his colleagues in the “dismal science,” Friedman was able to connect with the public through his […]
A Few More Thoughts on Korematsu
Michael Ramsey
Co-blogger Andrew Hyman recently had this interesting post on the Korematsu case. I entirely agree with the first four paragraphs. I think the last paragraph, regarding the power of Congress, does not go far enough. Many years ago in the early history of this blog I wrote this post about Korematsu. I now think that […]
Frederick Gedicks: The Fixation Thesis?
Michael Ramsey
Frederick Mark Gedicks (Brigham Young University – J. Reuben Clark Law School) has posted The Fixation Thesis? (72 Florida Law Review (forthcoming March 2020)) (61 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article challenges a foundational tenet of public-meaning originalism. This theory claims that judges properly interpret the Constitution only by discovering and applying its […]
A Few Thoughts About Korematsu (and Justice Gorsuch)
Andrew Hyman
Many people view the case of Korematsu v. United States (1944) as among the U.S. Supreme Court’s worst, because that decision supposedly authorized race-based detention of U.S. citizens during wartime. But, rightly or wrongly, the Court in that case said it was wiggling out of that issue: “Since the petitioner has not been convicted of failing […]
Ian Millhiser on Prakash and Smith on Removing Federal Judges
Michael Ramsey
At Vox, Ian Millhiser (formerly ThinkProgress): How to remove Brett Kavanaugh without impeaching him. From the introduction: In 2006, … the Yale Law Journal published a provocative paper. The paper, “How To Remove a Federal Judge” by law professors Saikrishna Prakash and Steven D. Smith [ed.: formerly USD Schooll of Law and currently USD School of […]
Samuel Bray: The Mischief Rule
Michael Ramsey
Samuel L. Bray (Notre Dame Law School) has posted The Mischief Rule (52 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The mischief rule tells an interpreter to read a statute in light of the “mischief” or “evil”—the problem that led to the statute. The mischief rule has been associated with Blackstone’s appeal to a statute’s “reason […]
John Mikhail: Is the Constitution a Power of Attorney or a Corporate Charter?
Michael Ramsey
John Mikhail (Georgetown University Law Center) has posted Is the Constitution a Power of Attorney or a Corporate Charter? A Commentary on ''A Great Power of Attorney': Understanding the Fiduciary Constitution' by Gary Lawson and Guy Seidman (Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy, forthcoming) (34 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In their stimulating […]
Timothy Sandefur on the Anti-Slavery Constitution
Michael Ramsey
At NRO, Timothy Sandefur: The Anti-Slavery Constitution. From the beginning: It’s become an article of faith on the left that America was founded by racists who wrote the Constitution in part to preserve slavery. Historian David Waldstreicher calls it “a proslavery constitution, in intention and effect.” Yale law professor Akhil Amar labels the Constitution “pro-slavery.” […]
Josh Blackman & Ilya Shapiro on the DACA Litigation
Michael Ramsey
At the SCOTUSBlog symposium on the DACA litigation (Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California), Josh Blackman (South Texas) and Ilya Shapiro (Cato Institute): Don’t judge a brief by its cover: DACA is a good policy that Congress has not authorized. From the introduction: We recently filed an amicus brief “in support of […]
Larry Alexander: Goldsworthy on Interpretation of Statutes and Constitutions
Michael Ramsey
Larry Alexander (University of San Diego School of Law) has posted Goldsworthy on Interpretation of Statutes and Constitutions: Public Meaning, Intended Meaning and the Bogey of Aggregation (Law Under a Democratic Constitution: Essays in Honour of Jeffrey Goldsworthy, 2019) (9 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This chapter is for a festschrift in honor of […]