The U.S. Supreme Court started down the slippery slope of racial preferences in 1978, with baleful consequences. This essay first appeared in the March/April 2022 issue of Chronicles magazine (here). Thanks to Real Clear Policy and Real Clear Books (here)! Scholars increasingly treat the issue of…
Constitutional Law
Ivy League Justice: The Credentialed Court
On paper, the Justices serving on the U.S. Supreme Court have never been more qualified. Does this make the Court better? Some argue that precisely the opposite is true. Are elite “credentials” overrated? This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty, on March 8, 2022 (here). Thanks to How A…
Unmasking the Nanny State
Preserving the rule of law sometimes requires judicial intervention to prevent government overreaching. This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on February 23, 2022 (here). Thanks to Power Line, Instapundit (here), the SE Texas Record (here), Real Clear Policy (here), Cafe Hayek (here), an…
Deconstructing Originalism: Does the Written Constitution Matter?
Opponents of originalism claim that it ignores the existence of an “unwritten” Constitution. This contention is nothing more than an unconvincing reformulation of the discredited notion of a “living Constitution.” This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on February 7, 2022 (…
Is Nullification an Option?
Opponents of the Leviathan will find no succor in the imagined panacea of nullification. A slightly edited version of this essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on April 2, 2021 (here). Thanks to Instapundit (here), and The Tennessee Star (here)! The Tenth Amendment Center gets confused about…
Is Abortion Unconstitutional?
Wishful thinking by conservative scholars opposed to abortion is an activist impulse that must be resisted. This essay first appeared in Law & Liberty on March 17, 2021 (here). Thanks to How Appealing, Real Clear Policy (here), and The Originalism Blog (here). Nearly 50 years after it was dec…
Clarence Thomas: The Road Not Taken
This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on December 10, 2020 (here). Thanks to Power Line, Instapundit (here), How Appealing, The Originalism Blog (here), and Legal Insurrection (here). Early on in Michael Pack’s gripping new documentary on Clarence Thomas, Created Equal: Clarence T…
A Scalia Digest
This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty, on September 17, 2020 (here). Thanks to National Review (here), How Appealing, The Originalism Blog (here), and Real Clear Books (here). Perhaps unfairly, most jurists are quickly forgotten when they leave the bench. Some are remembered only in…
Revisiting William O. Douglas
Attempting to portray the quintessential judicial activist as a victim of political skullduggery is like putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still a pig. This essay originally appeared in Law & Liberty on June 22, 2020 (here). Thank you, Instapundit (here)! Properly done, studying history is a …
Is Scalia’s Originalism—Indeed, Constitutional Self-Government–Passé?
The eternal temptation to read one’s own values into the Constitution beguiles even religious conservatives espousing “natural law” A revised version of this essay originally appeared in the April/May 2020 issue of Chronicles as “Faux Originalism” (here). Thanks to How Appealing…