At Law & Liberty, Ed Whelan: The Triumph of Ed Meese. From the introduction:
Edwin Meese III served as the 75th Attorney General of the United States during President Ronald Reagan’s second term, from 1985 to 1988. In The Meese Revolution, constitutional scholars Steven Calabresi and Gary Lawson make their case that Meese is the “most significant Attorney General in U.S. history.” They provide a comprehensive intellectual history of Meese’s “role in the triumph of originalism in legal interpretation.” No other Attorney General has “so thoroughly transformed the legal culture.”
Calabresi and Lawson lament that Ed Meese “does not get the public credit and recognition that he deserves.” Their book undertakes to correct that injustice, and it succeeds admirably in doing so. It stands as a towering monument to the man they rightly honor.
On Meese and originalism:
The core principle of originalism—or, more precisely, of its dominant “original meaning” version—is that laws are to be interpreted in accord with what their text meant at the time they were adopted. As Calabresi and Lawson detail, Ed Meese as Attorney General powerfully promoted the cause of originalism through various means.
The authors open with Meese’s speech to the American Bar Association in July 1985, “a speech that has reverberated throughout American constitutional law for the last four decades.” In that speech, Meese argued for a “Jurisprudence of Original Intention” that would make the text of the Constitution and the “original intention of those who framed it” the “judicial standard in giving effect to the Constitution.” He further committed that under his leadership the Department of Justice would “endeavor to resurrect the original meaning of constitutional provisions and statutes as the only reliable guide for judgment.” (Note that Meese’s interchangeable uses of “original intention” and “original meaning” signal that the competition between those two versions of originalism hadn’t yet emerged.)
Meese’s speech, the authors explain, “sparked a national conversation.” It elicited public responses from Justices William Brennan and John Paul Stevens, which in turn enabled Meese’s prompt reply to them. Their book analyzes that debate and presents several other important speeches Meese delivered on originalist topics.
Meese and his “right-hand man” Ken Cribb also made the Department of Justice an “incubator” of originalist ideas. Calabresi and Lawson were themselves among the many “brilliant and interesting legal minds” that Meese and his top advisers hired. Calabresi worked directly for Meese, and he proudly remains Meese’s “loyal and devoted follower.” Lawson was a line attorney in the influential Office of Legal Counsel. Their excitement decades later over the “intellectual atmosphere” that prevailed at DOJ is palpable.
Chuck Cooper, the very young head of OLC, “issued a blizzard of originalist OLC opinions on almost every subject under the sun.” The Office of Legal Policy, under Stephen Markman, produced a sourcebook titled Originalist Meaning Jurisprudence and a series of originalist monographs on subjects such as religious liberty, the Ninth Amendment, and criminal procedure. And DOJ hosted three major academic conferences, on federalism, separation of powers, and economic liberties.
And from the conclusion:
As Pam Bondi prepares to become our 87th Attorney General, it’s worth contemplating what made Meese so successful. The book reveals four key ingredients.
First, Meese had Reagan’s complete trust. The ties between the two men were tight and longstanding. Meese was Reagan’s chief of staff during most of his years (1967 to 1975) as governor of California, worked full-time on his 1980 presidential campaign, and headed his presidential transition team. Meese held the title of Counselor to the President during Reagan’s first term and was a member both of his Cabinet and of the National Security Council. Amazingly, during his time as Attorney General, he continued to serve as a member of the National Security Council and also chaired the White House’s Domestic Policy Council.
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Second, Meese had a clear mission in mind. He was keenly aware of the dismal state of Supreme Court decision-making (I will not dignify it with the term constitutional law) that had persisted since his days as a prosecutor in the early 1960s, and he knew that a foundation had to be laid for genuine reform. He recognized the common-sense soundness of originalism, even as he knew that it required development.
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Third, Meese knew that personnel is policy. He carefully selected his key advisers on the originalism project, put his trust in them, and delegated authority to them. More broadly, he knew better than to try to micromanage an organization of the size and complexity of DOJ.
Fourth, Meese had strong character as well as deep intellect. He inspired those who worked for him. I have had the pleasure of coming to know Meese over the past two decades, and the authors’ celebration of his character rings true.
Some readers might be put off by the fact that their praise sometimes crosses the line into hagiography. Humble as Meese is, I am guessing that he would recoil at their declarations that he “has lived a perfect life of service to other people and to his country, and to the world” and that “he exemplifies what St. Thomas Aquinas called the seven heavenly virtues: he is brave, wise, just, temperate, and full of faith, hope, and love.” But the very fact that Meese could receive such otherworldly acclaim is a compelling testament to the dedication he earned from those who had the honor to work for him.
Posted at 6:23 AM