A panel of libertarian and conservative scholars—J. Joel Alicea of The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, Anastasia Boden of the Cato Institute, and Sherif Girgis of Notre Dame Law School—conduct an in-depth comparative look at the different strands of originalism as a constitutional methodology. They also explore originalism’s modern history and application by current members of the Roberts Court through the examples of recent cases, and how originalism intersects with textualism and other interpretive approaches. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
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Participants
J. Joel Alicea is an assistant professor of law and co-director of the Project on Constitutional Originalism and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition at The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law. He is a fellow at the Columbus School of Law's Center for Religious Liberty, a nonresident fellow at The American Enterprise Institute, and the director of the Hispanic Student Mentoring and Leadership Program. Prior to joining the Catholic Law faculty, Alicea practiced law at Cooper & Kirk, PLLC and served as a law clerk for Justice Samuel Alito.
Anastasia Boden is the director of the Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. Before joining Cato, Boden was a civil rights attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, where she also co‐created the podcast Dissed. Her writings on law and liberty have been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.
Sherif Girgis is an associate professor of law at the Notre Dame Law School. He is the coauthor of What is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. Prior to joining Notre Dame, Girgis practiced law at Jones Day and also served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Additional Resources
- Moore v. Harper (2023)
- New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen (2023)
- Grutter v. Bollinger (2002)
- District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
- National Constitution Center, "Second Amendment," Interactive Constitution
- Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)
- Counterman v. Colorado (2023)
- John O. McGinnis and Michael B. Rappaport, Originalism and the Good Constitution
- Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick, "The Letter and the Spirit: A Unified Theory of Originalism," Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
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