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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Federalist Papers As Reliable Historical Source Material For Constitutional Interpretation, Seth Barrett Tillman Apr 2003

The Federalist Papers As Reliable Historical Source Material For Constitutional Interpretation, Seth Barrett Tillman

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Quicksands Of Originalism: Interpreting Minnesota’S Constitutional Past, Douglas A. Hedin Jan 2003

The Quicksands Of Originalism: Interpreting Minnesota’S Constitutional Past, Douglas A. Hedin

William Mitchell Law Review

There are several varieties of the “originalist” school of constitutional thought, but all subscribe in one degree or another to the belief that a constitutional clause should be interpreted according to its original meaning or the original intent of its authors. That original understanding or intent can be discerned from the text of the clause, the history of its drafting and ratification and, sometimes, early practices and court decisions interpreting that clause. It rightly has been called a “grand theory” because it is simple and clear, explains so much, and it has the almost irresistible attraction of being anchored firmly …


Essay: Remember Endo?, Patrick O. Gudridge Jan 2003

Essay: Remember Endo?, Patrick O. Gudridge

Articles

No abstract provided.


The Original Meaning Of The Necessary And Proper Clause, Randy E. Barnett Jan 2003

The Original Meaning Of The Necessary And Proper Clause, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this Article, I present the evidence of the original public meaning of the Necessary and Proper Clause." These findings will, of course, be of interest to originalists. But, they should also be of interest to the many constitutional scholars who consider original meaning to be one among several legitimate modes of constitutional analysis, or who consider original meaning the starting point of a process by which this meaning is translated into contemporary terms. By either account, it is important to find the correct original meaning, even if it is not dispositive of today's cases and controversies. I will show …


Constitutional Legitimacy, Randy E. Barnett Jan 2003

Constitutional Legitimacy, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The problem of constitutional legitimacy is to establish why anyone should obey the command of a constitutionally-valid law. A lawmaking system is legitimate if there is a prima facie duty to obey the laws it makes. Neither "consent of the governed" nor "benefits received" justifies obedience. Rather, a prima facie duty of obedience exists either (a) if there is actual unanimous consent to the jurisdiction of the lawmaker or, in the absence of consent, (b) f laws are made by procedures which assure that they are not unjust. In the absence of unanimous consent, a written constitution should be assessed …


Self-Historicism, Mark V. Tushnet Jan 2003

Self-Historicism, Mark V. Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Among the contributors to this symposium, I may be the person with the longest acquaintance with Sandy Levinson. I want to begin, therefore, with a recollection of the period of my earliest contacts with Sandy - a recollection that, as I hope to show, has some bearing on some of the aspects of Sandy's work that most interest me . . . I use these examples to introduce an argument connected to Sandy's longstanding interest in historical memory. The casebook of which he is a co-author is organized historically-relentlessly so, I would put it, to the point where I personally …