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Compendium of posts on Hobby Lobby and related cases

The Anti-Torture Memos: Balkinization Posts on Torture, Interrogation, Detention, War Powers, and OLC

The Anti-Torture Memos (arranged by topic)

Recent Posts

Why Do (Some) Originalists Hate America?

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Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Why Do (Some) Originalists Hate America?

Andrew Koppelman


Imagine a regime whose fundamental law is only to be found in ancient archives, whose mysterious contents take years to unearth, layer by layer.  Each new discovery brings about a revolution, as large bodies of established law are unexpectedly discarded and others, previously rejected, spring back into life as the scholars revise earlier conclusions.  The operations of government are in constant confusion and disarray.  And this state of affairs is likely to persist indefinitely.

     That doesn’t sound attractive, does it?  But that is where some prominent strands of modern originalist constitutional theory would lead us.  An essay that I have just posted on SSRN explores the methodological steps, each of which in themselves had a certain plausibility, that brought us here.

I usually put a note on Balkinization as soon as I have a new paper out, but this time I was slow, and the tireless Larry Solum has already posted a response, disputing my claim that "The now dominant assumption – one might call it the New New Originalism - is that the Constitution’s meaning can be determined by ascertaining the semantic meaning that each term had at the time of the founding."  Larry, whose understanding of contemporary originalism one doubts at one's peril, claims that "every public meaning originalist of whom I am aware rejects this approach."  I can only respond that I cite some prominent work that follows precisely that approach, with the baleful implications that I describe.



Posted 1:19 PM by Andrew Koppelman [link]



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Books by Balkinization Bloggers

Memory and Authority

Jack M. Balkin, Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation (Yale University Press, 2024)

What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said

Mark A. Graber, Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty: The Forgotten Goals of Constitutional Reform after the Civil War (University of Kansas Press, 2023)

What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said

Jack M. Balkin, What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Most Controversial Decision - Revised Edition (NYU Press, 2023)

Burning Down the House

Andrew Koppelman, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed (St. Martin’s Press, 2022)

Washington's Heir

Gerard N. Magliocca, Washington's Heir: The Life of Justice Bushrod Washington (Oxford University Press, 2022)

The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution

Joseph Fishkin and William E. Forbath, The Anti-Oligarchy Constitution: Reconstructing the Economic Foundations of American Democracy (Harvard University Press, 2022)

Power to the People

Mark Tushnet and Bojan Bugaric, Power to the People: Constitutionalism in the Age of Populism (Oxford University Press 2021).

Power to the People

Mark Philip Bradley and Mary L. Dudziak, eds., Making the Forever War: Marilyn B. Young on the Culture and Politics of American Militarism Culture and Politics in the Cold War and Beyond (University of Massachusetts Press, 2021).

What Obergefell v. Hodges Should Have Said

Jack M. Balkin, What Obergefell v. Hodges Should Have Said: The Nation's Top Legal Experts Rewrite America's Same-Sex Marriage Decision (Yale University Press, 2020)

New Laws of Robotics

Frank Pasquale, New Laws of Robotics: Defending Human Expertise in the Age of AI (Belknap Press, 2020)

The Cycles of Constitutional Time

Jack M. Balkin, The Cycles of Constitutional Time (Oxford University Press, 2020)

Taking Back the Constitution

Mark Tushnet, Taking Back the Constitution: Activist Judges and the Next Age of American Law (Yale University Press 2020).

Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty

Andrew Koppelman, Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty?: The Unnecessary Conflict (Oxford University Press, 2020)

The Trillion Dollar Revolution

Ezekiel J Emanuel and Abbe R. Gluck, The Trillion Dollar Revolution: How the Affordable Care Act Transformed Politics, Law, and Health Care in America (PublicAffairs, 2020)

Who's the Bigot

Linda C. McClain, Who's the Bigot?: Learning from Conflicts over Marriage and Civil Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2020)

Democracy and Dysfunction

Sanford Levinson and Jack M. Balkin, Democracy and Dysfunction (University of Chicago Press, 2019)

Written in Stone

Sanford Levinson, Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies (Duke University Press 2018)

Constitutional Democracy in Crisis

Mark A. Graber, Sanford Levinson, and Mark Tushnet, eds., Constitutional Democracy in Crisis? (Oxford University Press 2018)

The Heart of the Constitution

Gerard Magliocca, The Heart of the Constitution: How the Bill of Rights became the Bill of Rights (Oxford University Press, 2018)

Fault Lines in the Constitution

Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today (Peachtree Publishers, 2017)

A Realistic Theory of Law

Brian Z. Tamanaha, A Realistic Theory of Law (Cambridge University Press 2017)

Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought

Sanford Levinson, Nullification and Secession in Modern Constitutional Thought (University Press of Kansas 2016)

An Argument Open to All

Sanford Levinson, An Argument Open to All: Reading The Federalist in the 21st Century (Yale University Press 2015)

Broken Trust

Stephen M. Griffin, Broken Trust: Dysfunctional Government and Constitutional Reform (University Press of Kansas, 2015)

Bottlenecks

Frank Pasquale, The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money and Information (Harvard University Press, 2015)

We The People Volume III: The Civil Rights Revolution

Bruce Ackerman, We the People, Volume 3: The Civil Rights Revolution (Harvard University Press, 2014)

Balkinization Symposium on We the People, Volume 3: The Civil Rights Revolution

Bottlenecks

Joseph Fishkin, Bottlenecks: A New Theory of Equal Opportunity (Oxford University Press, 2014)

A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism

Mark A. Graber, A New Introduction to American Constitutionalism (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Elements of Moral Cognition

John Mikhail, Elements of Moral Cognition: Rawls' Linguistic Analogy and the Cognitive Science of Moral and Legal Judgment (Cambridge University Press, 2013)

American Founding Son

Gerard N. Magliocca, American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the Fourteenth Amendment (New York University Press, 2013)

Long Wars and the Constitution

Stephen M. Griffin, Long Wars and the Constitution (Harvard University Press, 2013)

The Tough Luck Constitution

Andrew Koppelman, The Tough Luck Constitution and the Assault on Health Care Reform (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Ordered Liberty

James E. Fleming and Linda C. McClain, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013)

Balkinization Symposium on Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues

Defending American Religious Neutrality

Andrew Koppelman, Defending American Religious Neutrality (Harvard University Press, 2013)

Failing Law Schools

Brian Z. Tamanaha, Failing Law Schools (University of Chicago Press, 2012)

Sanford Levinson, Framed

Sanford Levinson, Framed: America's 51 Constitutions and the Crisis of Governance (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Mary Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences

Linda C. McClain and Joanna L. Grossman, Gender Equality: Dimensions of Women's Equal Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2012)

Mary Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences

Mary Dudziak, War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences (Oxford University Press, 2012)

Living Originalism

Jack M. Balkin, Living Originalism (Harvard University Press, 2011)

Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law

Jason Mazzone, Copyfraud and Other Abuses of Intellectual Property Law (Stanford University Press, 2011)

First Amendment Stories

Richard W. Garnett and Andrew Koppelman, First Amendment Stories, (Foundation Press 2011)

Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World

Jack M. Balkin, Constitutional Redemption: Political Faith in an Unjust World (Harvard University Press, 2011)

The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan

Gerard Magliocca, The Tragedy of William Jennings Bryan: Constitutional Law and the Politics of Backlash (Yale University Press, 2011)

The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order

Bernard Harcourt, The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order (Harvard University Press, 2010)

The Decline and Fall of the American Republic

Bruce Ackerman, The Decline and Fall of the American Republic (Harvard University Press, 2010)

Balkinization Symposium on The Decline and Fall of the American Republic

Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done

Ian Ayres. Carrots and Sticks: Unlock the Power of Incentives to Get Things Done (Bantam Books, 2010)

Why the Constitution Matters

Mark Tushnet, Why the Constitution Matters (Yale University Press 2010)

Lifecycle Investing

Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff: Lifecycle Investing: A New, Safe, and Audacious Way to Improve the Performance of Your Retirement Portfolio (Basic Books, 2010)

The Laws of Change

Jack M. Balkin, The Laws of Change: I Ching and the Philosophy of Life (2d Edition, Sybil Creek Press 2009)

Beyond The Formalist/Realist Divide

Brian Z. Tamanaha, Beyond the Formalist-Realist Divide: The Role of Politics in Judging (Princeton University Press 2009)

A Right to Discriminate?

Andrew Koppelman and Tobias Barrington Wolff, A Right to Discriminate?: How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association (Yale University Press 2009)

The The Constitution in 2020

Jack M. Balkin and Reva B. Siegel, The Constitution in 2020 (Oxford University Press 2009)

The Democracy Index

Heather K. Gerken, The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System Is Failing and How to Fix It (Princeton University Press 2009)

Exporting American Dreams

Mary Dudziak, Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey (Oxford University Press 2008)

Legal Ethics and Human Dignity

David Luban, Legal Ethics and Human Dignity (Cambridge Univ. Press 2007)

Super Crunchers

Ian Ayres, Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers is the New Way to be Smart (Bantam 2007)

Cybercrime

Jack M. Balkin, James Grimmelmann, Eddan Katz, Nimrod Kozlovski, Shlomit Wagman and Tal Zarsky, eds., Cybercrime: Digital Cops in a Networked Environment (N.Y.U. Press 2007)

State of Play

Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simone Noveck, The State of Play: Law, Games, and Virtual Worlds (N.Y.U. Press 2006)

Same Sex, Different States

Andrew Koppelman, Same Sex, Different States: When Same-Sex Marriages Cross State Lines (Yale University Press 2006)

Law as a Means to an End

Brian Tamanaha, Law as a Means to an End (Cambridge University Press 2006)

Our Undemocratic Constitution

Sanford Levinson, Our Undemocratic Constitution (Oxford University Press 2006)

Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil

Mark Graber, Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional Evil (Cambridge University Press 2006)

What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said

Jack M. Balkin, ed., What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said (N.Y.U. Press 2005)

Torture: A Collection

Sanford Levinson, ed., Torture: A Collection (Oxford University Press 2004)



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