At the National Constitution Center, a discussion/debate with Richard Primus and John Harrison on Professor Primus' new book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power:
In this episode, Richard Primus of the University of Michigan Law School and John Harrison of the University of Virginia School of Law join to discuss Primus’s new book The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power, which challenges the prevailing understanding of congressional power and argues that Congress is not limited to its textually enumerated powers. Their conversation traces how this fundamental disagreement has shaped key moments in American constitutional history, from the Founding Era to the New Deal, and why the debate remains unsettled today.
Today’s episode was produced by Bill Pollock and Griffin Richie. It was engineered by Bill Pollock. Research was provided by Gyuha Lee, Griffin Richie, Trey Sullivan and Tristan Worsham.
Participants
Richard Primus is the Theodore J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. In addition to The Oldest Constitutional Question, he has written several important law review articles on the scope of congressional power.
John Harrison is the James Madison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is the author of important law review articles on a range of topics, including the Reconstruction amendments and congressional power.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
(Via Legal History Blog.)
RELATED: Balkinzation has a symposium on Professor Primus' book, with these contributions:
1. Jack Balkin, Introduction to the Symposium
2. Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus, Enumeration and My Discontent
3. Sandy Levinson, Will Richard Primus Get the Readership He Deserves (and the Country Needs)?
4. Jonathan Gienapp, The Many Meanings of Enumeration
5. William Ewald, Does Anybody Else Suffer from Enumerationism?
6. William Baude, Constitutional Anti-Enumerationism from William Winslow Crosskey to Richard Primus
7. Abbe Gluck, Not your Father’s Federalism: Primus, Enumeration, and State Power in the Modern Era
8. John Mikhail, Why Did the Framers Enumerate Congressional Powers?
9. Richard Primus, Gratitude, and a Reply in Two Parts
Posted at 6:01 AM