Vikram D. Amar (University of California, Davis – School of Law) has posted The Constitution as Client (UC Davis Law Review, forthcoming) (26 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In this Endowed Lecture, Professor Amar discusses how the Supreme Court bench has become a group of well-credentialed, very smart generalists who are experienced at judging but who lack deep expertise in many areas of law and history, including constitutional law. He observes that, at the same time, the Supreme Court bar is becoming increasingly dominated by very smart lawyers who may be quite knowledgeable about Supreme Court practice and the inclinations of particular Justices, but who also lack deep subject-matter expertise in many crucial areas of legal history and doctrine, including constitutional law. This combination poses distinct challenges and problems for a Court that professes to be guided by originalism, as is illustrated in some recent high-profile rulings. The academy could in theory help provide more of the necessary subject-matter expertise, but if this solution is to work both the Court and the legal academy need to be more open to introspection, and to thinking about the Constitution itself as the client.
Posted at 6:06 AM