Season 2, Episode 33 (Show 85): Originalism on Trial

August 10, 2022

The Supreme Court has declared itself an originalist Court.  We use actual cases to put originalism through its paces: myths and truths, critiques and methods.

The recent Supreme Court term gave rise to a virtual anointment of originalism, as the Court in case after case declared originalism the approach and method that determined the result.  Professor Amar has spent a career on originalism, and that expertise is employed here to respond to these developments.  We begin a look at the great cases and controversies of American history, and through them, we define an originalism that has a clear method, recognizes its own limits, responds to critiques, and is consistent with a recognizable America – not an America with a Constitution and a jurisprudence for liberals or for conservatives alone.