Law and Interpretation, Co-Sponsored by Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, and Legal History

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Session Type: Section Programs

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: Marriott Marquis Washington, DC

Room: George Washington Univ. Room

Floor: Level M1

The Roberts Court has embarked on a constitutional revolution using history to legitimate its authority. Sometimes the Court's conservative majority employs originalism, sometimes it invokes tradition, and sometimes it ignores originalism and tradition altogether. Critics charge that many of the Court's decisions are undermining democracy and civil rights, while supporters argue that the Court is restoring the Framers' Constitution. This program will discuss how lawyers, scholars, and judges use and misuse history. Our starting points will be Jack Balkin’s Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation (2024) and Jonathan Gienapp’s Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique (2024).