Rule of Law

A Constitution for the 21st Century

Details

Thursday, June 11, 2020
2:00 pm
Virtual Convention
American Constitution Society

While we were quarantining, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was busy trying to complete the conservative capture of the federal bench and the debate about the proper method for interpreting the Constitution continued to rage among constitutional scholars. Sensing ascendancy in the judiciary for the next generation, some conservative scholars who had previously adhered to Originalism as their alleged mode of interpretation now confess it has outlived its utility, and conservative judges once again are taking aim at the constitutional right to abortion and the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, some progressive lawyers have adopted originalism and textualism as strategies of their own. Some argue our constitutional system is unable to withstand the current level of hyper-partisanship. What’s a progressive constitutionalist to make of all this, and what should be our response?