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Constitutional Circularity, Michael B. Abramowicz
Constitutional Circularity, Michael B. Abramowicz
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
In supporting the invocation of stare decisis in constitutional cases, the Supreme Court has maintained that its decisions affect how the people conceptualize the government and their rights. Such an argument, which prioritizes contemporary understands of the Constitution over both the intentions of Framers and the nuances of doctrine, suggests that constitutional decisions may affect the meaning of the Constitution itself. In this Article, Professor Abramowicz offers a positive account demonstrating that the Court has used this type of argument, which he dubs “constitutional circularity,” and provides a normative critique. The positive account is relevant not only because it identifies …
Louis Brandeis And The Race Question, Christopher A. Bracey
Louis Brandeis And The Race Question, Christopher A. Bracey
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works
We live in a culture enamored by our heroes. They are celebrated for their extraordinary accomplishments, and canonized by histories that rarely reflect the true texture of their lives. Legal academics share in these tendencies and, as a result, heroes in the law are often viewed with the same rose-colored glasses accorded to their counterparts in popular culture. The late Louis Brandeis was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939. Born to Jewish immigrant parents, he graduated from Harvard Law School, and gained a reputation as America’s “People’s Attorney.” He pioneered an …