Does The Ninth Amendment Constitutionally Protect Unenumerated Rights?
Mike Rappaport
Recently, I wrote a couple of posts on whether the Privileges or Immunities Clause protected unenumerated rights. In my view, the Clause does protect such rights, but in a disciplined way. This naturally raises the question whether another part of the Constitution—the Ninth Amendment—also protects unenumerated rights. Here I want to explain my view that […]
Ilya Somin: No Appeal in FGM/Commerce Clause Case
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, Ilya Somin: Justice Department Decides Not to Appeal Court Ruling Striking Down Federal Law Banning Female Genital Mutilation. From the introduction: On Friday, the Justice Department announced that it will not appeal a federal trial court decision ruling that the federal law banning female genital mutilation (FGM) is unconstitutional. This is likely to be an unpopular […]
Michael Dorf: Why Is the Constitution Authoritative?
Michael Ramsey
At Dorf on Law, Michael Dorf: Why Is the Constitution Authoritative? (He does not pose this question specifically to originalists, but it's interesting to think about what the originalist answer(s) would be). He first says that the Constitution cannot be authoritative simply because is says it is (in Article VI). That seems right. Next: Many […]
Frederick Schauer: A Critical Examination of the Distinction between Interpretation and Construction
Michael Ramsey
Frederick Schauer (University of Virginia School of Law) has posted A Critical Examination of the Distinction between Interpretation and Construction (33 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The distinction between interpretation and construction, with its roots in the law and theory of contracts, has become a central theme in contemporary debates about constitutional theory. According […]
More from Mark Pulliam on Privileges or Immunities
Michael Ramsey
At Law & Liberty, Mark Pulliam: Still Searching for the Judicial “Holy Grail”. From the introduction: Well into the 1980s, under the spell of what is now denigrated as the “old” originalism,” most conservative scholars shared the sentiment of University of Texas law professor Lino Graglia that the “privileges or immunities” clause is “one of […]
Two Justice Gorsuch Profiles
Michael Ramsey
Two profiles of Justice Gorsuch in popular commentary highlight his originalism. At Bloomberg: Gorsuch Charts Course as Originalist With Independent Streak. Justice Neil Gorsuch has delivered almost precisely what conservatives were hoping for over his two years on the U.S. Supreme Court, even though his principles occasionally take him in other directions. He’s followed the […]
Lawrence Rosenthal: An Empirical Inquiry into the Use of Originalism
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, in the Hastings Law Journal, Lawrence Rosenthal (Chapman): An Empirical Inquiry into the Use of Originalism: Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence During the Career of Justice Scalia (70 Hast. L.J. 75 (2018)). Here is the abstract: There is likely no methodological question of greater importance to constitutional law than whether adjudication should be based on […]
Jack Balkin on Ed Meese
Michael Ramsey
Balkinization is hosting an online symposium on the new book The Company They Keep: How Partisan Divisions Came to the Supreme Court (Oxford University Press, 2019) by Neal Devins and Lawrence Baum. Jack Balkin's contribution is All Hail Ed Meese! From the introduction: Devins and Baum's The Company They Keep is a fine book that nevertheless manages […]
The Rosenkranz Originalism Conference at Yale Law School
Michael Ramsey
Yale Law School will inaugurate an originalism conference, the school announced. (I wonder where they got that idea?) From the official announcement: Yale Law School is proud today to announce the launch of a major new intellectual initiative, “The Rosenkranz Originalism Conference at Yale Law School.” This program, many months in the making, will bring […]
John Vlahoplus: Foreign-Born Children of Disloyal Parents
Michael Ramsey
John Vlahoplus (Independent) has posted Foreign-Born Children of Disloyal Parents: Adam Muthana, Mary Arcedeckne and the Natural Born (St. John's Law Review, forthcoming) (106 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The collapse of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has left thousands of foreign ISIS adherents and their children in refugee camps controlled by […]