Over the summer, I wrote a piece about the Supreme Court’s decision in the “violent videogames” case (Brown vs Entertainment Merchants Assn) for the forthcoming Cato 2011 Supreme Court Review. The Center for Constitutional Studies at Cato is having a kickoff event for the publication this coming Thursday (starting at 1030 AM), and I’ll be […]
Archive | Originalism
Ezell’s doctrinal rules for the Second Amendment
By David Kopel on July 8, 2011 2:08 am in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Guns, Originalism
The Seventh Circuit’s decision in Ezell v. Chicago is a tremendously important case for Second Amendment doctrine. The key rules from Ezell: use originalism from both 1791 and 1868 to determine if an activity is within the scope of the Second Amendment right. If it is, apply First Amendment doctrine, and make the standard of […]
Natelson’s reply to Time magazine’s essay on the Constitution
Time magazine managing editor Richard Stengel has penned a cover essay about the Constitution, One Document, Under Siege. My Independence Institute colleague Rob Natelson wrote a response addressing some of the many illogical or inaccurate claims therein. For example: Stengel: “The framers . . . gave us the idea that a black person was three-fifths […]
The Incidental Unconstitutionality of the Individual Mandate
By David Kopel on June 24, 2011 7:44 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Originalism
A recent Yale Law Journal Online article by Northwestern law professor Andrew Koppelman argues that the Obamacare individual mandate is obviously constitutional, especially in light of how McCulloch v. Maryland construed the Necessary and Proper clause. Bad News for Mail Robbers: The Obvious Constitutionality of Health Care Reform (April 2011). Gary Lawson (Boston Univ.) and I […]
The Seventh and Thirteenth Amendments, and Ambiguous Constitutional Text
“A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged, it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes Many commenters on the Thirteenth Amendment, the draft, jury service, and compulsory road work […]
Republican presidential candidates pledge to appoint judges to overturn the unconstitutional anti-abortion law they will sign
By David Kopel on June 18, 2011 4:42 pm in Abortion, Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Federalism, Fourteenth Amendment, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Judicial Nominations, Originalism, Supreme Court
At CNN, Politico, National Review Online’s “The Corner” blog, and at the Susan B. Anthony List website, you can read the developing controversy over some Republican presidential candidates’ refusal to sign the SBA Lists’ “2012 Pro-Life Citizen’s Pledge.” Signers thus far are Bachmann, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Paul, and Santorum. The items on the pledge are: FIRST, […]
The One and Only Substantive Due Process Clause
By David Bernstein on March 23, 2011 7:48 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Originalism, Rehabilitating Lochner
Attorney Ryan Williams recently published an article in the Yale Law Journal called “The One and Only Substantive Due Process Clause.” It’s pathbreaking. Essentially, Williams argues that in 1791, when the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause was enacted, “due process of law” had only a procedural meaning, and only guaranteed proper judicial procedures. By 1868, […]
“Health Laws of Every Description”: Obamacare and Original Meaning
By David Kopel on February 4, 2011 6:58 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Federalist Society, Health Care, Individual Mandate, Necessary and Proper, Originalism, Supreme Court
Is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act consistent with the original meaning of Constitution? David Gans (at Balkinization) and Charles Fried (testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee) agree that the answer is “yes.” Both of them point to Gibbons v. Ogden and McCulloch v. Maryland. Gibbons is certainly a good foundation for advocates of strong […]
What Did James Madison Think about Blogs?
By Jonathan H. Adler on November 22, 2010 10:18 am in Blogosphere, Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Originalism
Are bloggers the 21st century equivalent of political pamphleteers? Would James Madison have had one? I don’t know. But I do know that several faculty members at the University of San Diego School of Law’s Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism have launched “The Originalism Blog.” This blog won’t endeavor to answer the question in this […]
Commerce in the Commerce Clause: A Response to Jack Balkin
By David Kopel on November 4, 2010 6:39 pm in Commerce Clause, Constitutional History, Economy, Originalism
A recent issue of the Michigan Law Review features Jack Balkin’s article Commerce. (109 Mich. L. Rev. 1 [2010].) The article argues that in the original meaning of the Constitution, “commerce” was understood to include a broad variety of social relationships, including relationships that had nothing to do with economic activity. Accordingly, writes Balkin, the original meaning […]
Federalist 46
By David Kopel on June 30, 2010 5:19 pm in Constitutional History, Federalism, Guns, History, Originalism
“The Influence of the State and Federal Governments Compared,” from the New York Packet, by James Madison. My essay thereon is here, at Constituting America’s series on The Federalist. Bottom line: even taking into account the many changes over the last two and quarter centuries, Madison was generally right.
Why Not the Privileges or Immunities Clause?
By Ilya Somin on June 28, 2010 4:04 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Theory, Guns, Originalism
In today’s Supreme Court decision incorporating the Second Amendment against the states, the four justice plurality opinion used the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to justify its ruling rather than the Privileges or Immunities Clause. As various commentators, including co-blogger Randy Barnett, have pointed out, it is strange that four conservative justices supposedly […]
Is Originalism for Progressives?
By Jonathan H. Adler on June 21, 2010 9:01 am in American Constitution Society, Constitutional Theory, Originalism, Uncategorized
In remarks at this weekend’s annual convention, American Constitution Society executive director Caroline Fredrickson reportedly characterized originalism as a “choking weed,” part of a “noxious brew” of ideology promoted by the Federalist Society. Was this remark a categorical rejection of originalism, or simply a rejection of those modes of originalism employed by conservatives? Her reported […]
A Funny Thing About “Substantive Due Process”
By David Bernstein on June 17, 2010 2:09 pm in Constitutional History, Constitutional Law, Economic LIberties, Originalism, Rehabilitating Lochner
In his Stop the Beach opinion, Justice Scalia writes, “The first problem with using Substantive Due Process to do the work of the Takings Clause is that we have held it cannot be done.” But hold on! The Takings Clause does not apply to the states. The Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause applies to the […]
Advice to Rand Paul re: Civil Rights Act of 1964
By Randy Barnett on May 21, 2010 2:24 pm in Civil Rights, Constitutional History, Fourteenth Amendment, Originalism
Read David Bernstein’s excellent blog post. Unfortunately, because the title of David’s post referred to Bruce Bartlett and not Rand Paul, some seeking a “libertarian” take on this issue may overlook his analysis. To David’s libertarian analysis I would add the following considerations pertaining to the original meaning of the Constitution: (1) The problem of […]