For or Against Constitutional Originalism?

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jonathan Gienapp of Stanford University and Stephen Sachs of Harvard Law School join Chief Scholar Thomas Donnelly to discuss Gienapp’s new book, Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique. They review the history of originalism and debate the role of originalism in constitutional interpretation today. This conversation was originally streamed live as part of the NCC’s America’s Town Hall program series on October 8, 2024. Resources: Jonathan Gienapp, “Against Constitutional Originalism: A Historical Critique” (2024) Stephen Sachs and Will Baude, “Originalism and the Law of the Past” (Law and History Review, 2019) Michael Stokes Paulsen and Vasen Kesavan, “Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?” (90 Cal L. Rev. 291, 2002) William Baude, Jud Campbell, and Stephen Sachs, “General Law and the Fourteenth Amendment” (76 Stanford L. Rev 1185, 2024) Jud Campbell, “Four Views of the Nature of the Union” (47 Harvard J. Law & Public Policy 2, 2024) Fletcher v. Peck (1810) District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) United States v. Rahimi (2024) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected] Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming live program or watch recordings on YouTube. Support our important work. Donate

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center,
0:07.7	and welcome to We the People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:11.4	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit,
0:14.6	chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:20.2	In this episode, Jonathan Ginep of Stanford University and Stephen Sacks of Harvard Law School
0:25.4	joined Tom Donnelly, the NCC's chief scholar, to discuss Jonathan Ginep's new book
0:31.3	Against Constitutional Originalism, A Historical Critique.
0:36.1	They review the history of originalism and debate its role
0:38.8	in constitutional interpretation today. Here's Tom and enjoy the show. Thank you for joining us,
0:46.2	Jonathan and Steve. Thank you. Thank you for having me. And maybe I'll start with you,
0:51.8	you Jonathan. You've written a book that's arguing very much against originalism, and I want to get to
0:58.0	some of your critiques and some of Steve's responses.
1:01.0	But first, just to sort of set the table for us, can you offer us just a definition of
1:05.7	originalism?
1:06.9	Sure, and thanks again for having me.
1:08.7	It's really wonderful to be here with you, Tom, and with you, Steve, to have this conversation.
1:13.3	So originalism can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and we'll get into some of that variety and some of that nuance, which is very important.
1:21.0	But as a general matter, as I see it, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asks us to interpret and enforce the Constitution today in accordance with its original meaning, something that was originally laid down that ought to be respected.
1:38.0	So as a result, what distinguishes originalism is the emphasis and importance it places on history on things that happened in the past.
1:48.3	Now, all theories of constitutional interpretation for as long as really there have been theories
1:52.4	of constitutional interpretation have placed emphasis on history. So there's nothing new about that.
1:57.0	What distinguishes originalism is investing history with such paramount authority,
	...

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