So much of how scholars and judges approach the jurisprudence of federal courts is heavily influenced – if not entirely driven – by an originalist approach that places great weight on Founding-era understandings of the role of Article III in the constitutional framework as well as the first statutory regulation of the federal courts, the 1789 Judiciary Act. Recent scholarship has called into question whether an originalist and textualist style of reasoning should wield such heavy influence in the field, noting that in many other areas of constitutional law, prevailing doctrines diverge considerably from widely held expectations from the Founding and even Reconstruction periods to accommodate developments and functional considerations that the Founding generation(s) could not have anticipated. This panel will explore and debate the role of history, along with the proper sphere of influence of Founding and Reconstruction understandings, in federal courts jurisprudence today.
Business meeting at program conclusion.