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Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Judicial Conscience And Natural Rights: A Reply To Professor Ledewitz, Harry V. Jaffa
Judicial Conscience And Natural Rights: A Reply To Professor Ledewitz, Harry V. Jaffa
Seattle University Law Review
In our Spring 1987 issue, Professor Jaffa authored an essay in which he posited that the fundamental principles of equality and other tenets of natural law expressed in the Declaration of Independence were originally intended to be the principles of the Constitution of 1787 Professor Jaffa asserted that while the Framers believed in the "law of nature and nature's God," many contemporary constitutional thinkers, including fellow conservatives Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Attorney General Edwin Meese, do not. Thus, Jaffa argued, those conservatives "who today most aggressively appeal to the doctrine of original intent are among its most resolute antagonists." …
Judicial Conscience And Natural Rights: A Reply To Professor Jaffa, Bruce Ledewitz
Judicial Conscience And Natural Rights: A Reply To Professor Jaffa, Bruce Ledewitz
Seattle University Law Review
This Article replies to Professor Harry V. Jaffa’s article “What Were the ‘Original Intentions’ of the Framers of the Constitution of the United States?” The Article focuses on the gap the author argues Professor Jaffa left between the consciousness of the Framers and the practice of judicial review today. The author argues that the understanding that Professor Jaffa brings to the intent of the Framers is one that opens up the Constitution to the call of justice, but the author critiques the utility of Professor Jaffa’s work in resolving the contentious constitutional issues of today, including abortion and capital punishment.
Foreword: On Jaffa, Lincoln, Marshall, And Original Intent, Lewis E. Lehrman
Foreword: On Jaffa, Lincoln, Marshall, And Original Intent, Lewis E. Lehrman
Seattle University Law Review
This Foreword introduces the article to follow written by Harry V. Jaffa, scholar of Abraham Lincoln’s political philosophy. The Foreward provides background material necessary to contextualize the ongoing debate surrounding constitutional interpretation emphasizing original intent addressed in Jaffa's article.
Professor Harry V. Jaffa Divides The House: A Respectful Protest And A Defense Brief, Robert L. Stone
Professor Harry V. Jaffa Divides The House: A Respectful Protest And A Defense Brief, Robert L. Stone
Seattle University Law Review
This Article replies to Professor’ Jaffa’s article, “What Were the ‘Original Intentions’ of the Framers of the Constitution of the United States?,” and book, The Crisis of the House Divided. The Article argues that Professor Jaffa’s method throughout his indictment of legal scholars has three flaws. First, the Article argues that Professor Jaffa takes statements of sensible political compromises-such as support for judicial restraint, British traditions, and local self-government-and treats them as if they were philosophical statements. Second, the author contends that Professor Jaffa assembles a composite indictment, which in law is appropriately applied only to an indictment against …
What Were The "Original Intentions" Of The Framers Of The Constitution Of The United States?, Harry V. Jaffa
What Were The "Original Intentions" Of The Framers Of The Constitution Of The United States?, Harry V. Jaffa
Seattle University Law Review
This Article explains how the doctrine of original intent might be defended as the basis for interpreting the Constitution. The deepest political differences in American history have always been differences concerning the meaning of the Constitution, whether as originally intended, or as amended. Since the Civil War, the debate has often taken the form of a dispute over whether or not the Civil War amendments, notably the fourteenth, have changed the way in which the whole Constitution, and not only the amended parts, is read or interpreted. It is not possible to even discuss how or whether the Civil War …
Seven Questions For Professor Jaffa, George Anastaplo
Seven Questions For Professor Jaffa, George Anastaplo
Seattle University Law Review
This Article poses questions inspired by the four essays collected in Professor Harry V. Jaffa’s article “What Were the ‘Original Intentions’ of the Framers of the Constitution of the United States?” The Article offers, in addition to fresh reflections upon these questions, three appendices, which bear upon various matters touched upon by Professor Jaffa. These appendices include, “The Founders of Our Founders: Jerusalem, Athens, and the American Constitution,” “The Ambiguity of Justice in Plato’s Republic,” and “Private Rights and Public Law: The Founders’ Perspective.” The Epilogue provides informed observations of a scholar who comments on the differences between Professor …