Robert Natelson on Federal Eminent Domain Power
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, in the Federalist Society Review (Vol. 19, p. 88, 2018), Robert Natelson: Did the Constitution Grant the Federal Government Eminent Domain Power?: Using Eighteenth Century Law to Answer Constitutional Questions. From the introduction: Did the Constitution as originally understood grant the federal government eminent domain authority? As to federal territories and enclaves, for which […]
Judge Kavanaugh on Judging (and on Justice Scalia)
Michael Ramsey
I saw Judge Kavanaugh deliver this speech in 2016, reprinted in the Notre Dame Law Review: Two Challenges for the Judge as Umpire: Statutory Ambiguity and Constitutional Exceptions. On Justice Scalia: What did Justice Scalia stand for as a judge? It’s not complicated, but it is profound. The judge’s job is to interpret the law, not […]
Originalism Myths #1: Originalists Think the Framers Agreed on Everything
Michael Ramsey
With the new Supreme Court nomination (congratulations Judge Kavanaugh!), originalism is likely to be back in popular commentary as it was during Justice Gorsuch's confirmation. I hope to use this time to highlight the arguments against originalism and separate the good ones from the bad ones. In particular, I want to highlight the bad ones, […]
John McGinnis et al.: The Legal Turn in Originalism
Michael Ramsey
John O. McGinnis (Northwestern University – Pritzker School of Law), Michael B. Rappaport (University of San Diego School of Law), Ilya Shapiro (Cato Institute), Kevin C. Walsh (University of Richmond – School of Law) and Ilan Wurman (Arizona State University (ASU) – Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law) have posted The Legal Turn in Originalism: A Discussion on SSRN. […]
Mitchell Gordon: Continuity, Discontinuity, and the Rights Retained by the People
Michael Ramsey
Mitchell Gordon (University of St. Thomas School of Law) has posted Getting to the Bottom of the Ninth: Continuity, Discontinuity, and the Rights Retained by the People (50 Indiana Law Review 421 (2017)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Constitution’s first eight amendments expressly safeguard certain enumerated rights, and the Ninth Amendment instructs that the […]
Michael Stokes Paulsen on Originalism and Impeachment
Michael Ramsey
At Liberty Law Blog, Michael Stokes Paulsen: Constitutional Interpretation and the Impeachment Power. To begin, a primer on original meaning originalism: My methodology is one that is best described as original public meaning textualism: What is the objective meaning that the words and phrases of the document would have had to reasonable, and reasonably informed, speakers and […]
Craig Lerner: Originalism and the Common Law Infancy Defense
Michael Ramsey
Craig S. Lerner (George Mason University – Antonin Scalia Law School) has posted Originalism and the Common Law Infancy Defense (American University Law Review, Vol. 67, 2018) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Justice Thomas and the late Justice Scalia consistently argued that the original meaning of the Eighth Amendment was to foreclose only those modes or […]
Matthew Franck on Presidential Self-Pardons
Michael Ramsey
At Public Discourse, Matthew Franck: Presidential Self-Pardons, the Framers at Philadelphia, and the Work of Originalism. It begins: In the recent revival of debate over whether a president can pardon himself (a matter on which I weighed in at National Review last year), two authors have relied heavily on the purported significance of a moment during the Constitutional […]
Scott Gerber on Originalism and the Declaration
Michael Ramsey
At The Daily Caller, Scott Gerber: Originalism and the Fourth of July. From the introduction: President Donald Trump has indicated that he is working hard to appoint “originalist” judges to the federal courts. He is correct to do so, especially because the alternative is for judges to act like legislators by reading their personal views […]
SCOTUS Pick Set for July 9: Two Thoughts on Judge Kavanaugh [UPDATED]
Andrew Hyman
President Trump is aiming for July 9 to announce a U.S. Supreme Court nominee. There are 25 known contenders, and you can find lots of info about each of them at a website I set up: www.tifis.org/Trump.html The most recent scuttlebutt is that there are two main contenders, plus one dark horse. The two main contenders and […]