Thoughts in Response to David Weisberg
Michael Ramsey
This post offers a few thoughts in response to the recent post on this blog by David Weisberg. I agree with the main points of his post, but disagree as to their implications. His post (and other related work) argues that if the original meaning of the words in the Constitution is, because of the […]
John McGinnis on Stephen Budiansky on Oliver Wendell Holmes
Michael Ramsey
At Law & Liberty, John McGinnis: Holmes: An Uncommon Common Lawyer, but No Constitutionalist (reviewing Stephen Budiansky, Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law and Ideas (W.W. Norton, 2019)). From the introduction: Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Life in War, Law and Ideas might well be one of the most stimulating judicial biographies ever written. Of […]
Re Original Meaning in the Faithless Electors Case
David Weisberg
In a paper published on SSRN entitled “Originalism is Dead…Long Live Identicalism!”, I presented what I called the Paradox of Originalism: If the antiquity of the Constitution justifies the rebuttable presumption that some or all of the words or phrases in the Constitution have time-dated original meanings that differ from their current meanings, then the roughly […]
Evan Zoldan: Corpus Linguistics and the Dream of Objectivity
Michael Ramsey
Evan C. Zoldan (University of Toledo College of Law) has posted Corpus Linguistics and the Dream of Objectivity (Seton Hall Law Review, forthcoming) (43 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: A growing number of scholars and judges have embraced corpus linguistics as a way to interpret legal texts. Their stated goal—to make legal interpretation more […]
Michael Lewis: Protecting Our Constitution Through an Anti-Originalist Interpretive Canon of Constitutional Interpretation
Michael Ramsey
Michael Lewis (Rath, Young and Pignatelli) has posted Evil History: Protecting Our Constitution Through an Anti-Originalist Interpretive Canon of Constitutional Interpretation (University of New Hampshire Law Review, forthcoming) (35 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This review assesses three recent books on the subject of originalism. Each approaches the question of originalism from a different […]
Evan Bernick & Christopher Green: What is the Object of the Article VI Oath?
Michael Ramsey
Evan D. Bernick (judicial clerk) and Christopher R. Green (University of Mississippi – School of Law) have posted What is the Object of the Article VI Oath? (54 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: How and why are officers today bound to the Constitution? Article VI gives us a crystal-clear answer: they are bound “by […]
Eric Segall on Originalism and Structural Reasoning
Michael Ramsey
At Dorf on Law, Eric Segall: Strange Bedfellows: Structural Arguments and Originalism. Fro the beginning: I'd like to call attention to a wonderful new essay by Professor Thomas Colby titled "Originalism and Structural Argument" published in the Northwestern University Law Review [ed.: noted here]. Colby raises serious questions about federalism and separation of powers cases that […]
Original Meaning in the the Faithless Electors Case [Updated]
Michael Ramsey
Last week the Tenth Circuit held in Baca v. Colorado Department of State that Colorado could not remove and replace a presidential elector who failed to vote for the candidate winning the most votes for President in Colorado. (This sets up a conflict with the Washington Supreme Court, which held that Washington could fine so-called […]
More from Neal Goldfarb on Corpus Linguistics and the Second Amendment
Michael Ramsey
At LAWnLinguistics, Neal Goldfarb has posted the final installment in his series on corpus linguistics and the Second Amendment. Here is the introduction: This post will complete my analysis of the Second Amendment—for now. So far, I’ve focused almost entirely on the Second Amendment’s specification of the right that it protected—the right of the people, […]
Jay Schweikert on Originalism and Qualified Immunity
Michael Ramsey
A Cato-at-Liberty, Jay Schweikert: Dissenters in Fifth Circuit Qualified Immunity Case Misunderstand the Relationship between “Originalism” and Section 1983 (commenting on the dissent in Cole v. Hunter highlighted here). From the introduction: Perhaps sensing that the tide is turning against qualified immunity, Judges Ho and Oldman – both Trump appointees themselves – wrote separately [in […]