From the University of Virginia's news website, Eric Williamson: Legal Theorist Lawrence Solum To Join Law Faculty. On Professor Solum's originalist scholarship:
Solum is an originalist, seeking to divine the meaning of the language in the Constitution as it was understood at the time of its creation, more than 200 years ago. Integral to his personal approach is “the idea that originalists should employ all of the resources of linguistics and the philosophy of language in order to rigorously investigate what the constitutional text meant,” he said.
In 2017, he testified before Congress in accordance with his views as part of the confirmation process for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch.
But what makes Solum different than many of his originalist peers is that he’s not a conservative, nor does he believe that the originalism school of thought always translates as contrary to a progressive judiciary. His research has found that originalism sometimes leads to liberal and progressive outcomes, as he reveals in his article “Surprising Originalism.” [Ed.: I think most if not all originalist scholars agree with this proposition.]
(Via How Appealing.)
Professor Solum was previously at Georgetown law, along another noted originalist Randy Barnett. At UVA, he joins originalist-oriented scholars Saikrishna Prakash, John Harrison and Caleb Nelson, among others.
How many other top law faculties have even one originalist-oriented scholar?
Posted at 6:16 AM