Past Events
Fourth Annual Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference
—February 15 – 16, 2013
Conference Overview:
Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, the conference will involve the presentation of a variety of new works concerning originalism. All scholars who are interested in originalism are invited to attend. This conference is made possible through support from the Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation.
Works-in-Progress:
- James Allan (Queensland), Australian Originalism without a Bill of Rights: Going Down the Drain with a Different Spin
- Commentator: Grant Huscroft (Western Ontario)
- William Baude (Stanford Constitutional Law Center), Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power
- Commentator: Martin Redish (Northwestern)
- Thomas Colby (George Washington), Originalism and the Ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment
- Commentator: Michael McConnell (Stanford)
- Allan Hutchinson (Osgoode Hall), Originalist Sin
- Commentator: Larry Solum (Georgetown)
- Gregory Maggs (George Washington), Using Dictionaries from the Founding Era as a Source of the Original Meaning of the Constitutio
- Commentator: Lawrence Solan (Brooklyn)
- Gerard Magliocca (Indiana), John Bingham and the Drafting and Defense of the Fourteenth Amendment
- Commentator: Earl Maltz (Rutgers)
- John McGinnis (Northwestern), Is Judicial Restraint an Originalist Method?
- Commentator: Randy Barnett (Georgetown)
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Lunchtime Lecture with Richard Epstein
—January 30, 2013
Lecture Overview:
Richard Epstein, one of the foremost libertarian scholars, will present "Constitutionalism, Originalism and Libertarianism" at a lunchtime lucture. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University, the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Law and Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School, and the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is well known for his research and writings on a broad range of constitutional, economic, historical and philosophical subjects. He has taught administrative law, antitrust law, communications law, constitutional law, corporation criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law, health law, labor law, Roman law, real estate development and finance, and individual and corporate taxation.
Commentary by:
Lawrence Alexander
David McGowan
Michael Rappaport
Watch the lecture | Event details
Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Judicial Lecture on Constitutional Originalism
The Role of the Federal Judge in the Constitutional Structure: An Originalist Perspective
—September 5, 2012
Keynote Speaker:
The Honorable Diarmuid O’Scannlain, United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit
Lecture Abstract:
When jurists and scholars discuss originalism, they often have in mind the original meaning of the Constitution’s words and clauses. But originalism speaks not just of the meaning of the Constitution's textual provisions. It speaks also of the structure established by the Constitution, of the roles that each branch plays in that structure, and of the respect that the federal branches owe to the States and to the people. This lecture examines these structural features and presents an originalist perspective on the federal judge's role—particularly the circuit judge’s role—in the constitutional structure.
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"Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power"
— August 24, 2012
It is now black-letter law that the federal government has the power to take private land through eminent domain, so long as it pays compensation. The Supreme Court first established the existence of this power in the 1875 case of Kohl v. United States, and it is now taken for granted. Many people now cannot imagine that the power was ever controversial. This article challenges that conventional wisdom, and argues that the federal eminent domain power was far from inevitable. Indeed, there is a very good case that the federal government never had that authority.
Speaker:
William Baude
Stanford University
Constitutional Law Center Fellow
Third Annual Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference
—February 3 – 4, 2012
Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, the conference will involve the presentation of a variety of new works concerning originalism. All scholars who write about originalism are invited to attend.
Works-in-Progress:
- Ilya Somin (George Mason): "Originalism and Political Ignorance"
- Commentator: John McGinnis (Northwestern)
- Jamal Greene (Columbia): "Fourteenth Amendment Originalism"
- Commentator: Michael Paulsen (St. Thomas)
Special Session on the Enumerated Powers (Papers 3-5):
- Kurt Lash (Illinois): "Resolution VI: The Virginia Plan and Authority to Resolve “Collective Action Problems” Under Article I, Sect. 8"
- Robert Pushaw (Pepperdine): "Obamacare and the Original Meaning of the Commerce Clause: Identifying Historical Limits on Congress's Powers"
- John Mikhail (Georgetown): "The Necessary and Proper Clauses"
- Commentator: Jack Balkin (Yale)
- Jennifer Mason McAward (Notre Dame): "McCulloch and the Thirteenth Amendment"
- Commentator: Mark Tushnet (Harvard)
- Stephen Sachs (Duke): "Constitutional Backdrops"
- Commentator: Andrew Kent (Fordham)
- Garrett Epps (Baltimore): "The Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment: The Case for 'Narrative Originalism"
- Commentator: Chris Green (Mississippi)
Watch the Conference Webcast | More Information
The One and Only Substantive Due Process Clause
—Friday, September 23, 2011
The nature and scope of the rights protected by the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments are among the most debated topics in all of constitutional law. Moderated by USD's Professor of Law and Director of the Center for the Study of Originalism Michael Rappaport, guest lecturer Ryan Williams will present and discuss his recent Yale Law Journal article titled, "The One and Only Substantive Due Process Clause."
Guest Lecturer:
Ryan Williams
University of Pennsylvania School of Law
George Sharswood Fellow
Commentary by:
Michael Rappaport
University of San Diego
Second Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference
—February 4 – 5, 2011
Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, the conference will involve the presentation of a variety of new works concerning originalism. All scholars who write about originalism are invited to attend.
Conference Organizers:
- Professor Michael D. Ramsey – University of San Diego School of Law
- Professor Michael B. Rappaport – University of San Diego School of Law
- Professor Steven D. Smith – University of San Diego School of Law
Watch the Conference | Listen to the Conference | More Information
The Original Sense of “of” in the Privileges or Immunities Clause
Christopher Green
Bryan Wildenthal—Friday, September 24, 2010
Guest Lecturer:
Christopher Green
University of Mississippi School of Law
Commentary by:
Bryan Wildenthal
Thomas Jefferson School of Law
The Debate Over Birthright Citizenship –
A Constitution Day Debate
Michael Rappaport
Michael Ramsey—Friday, September 17, 2010
Guest Lecturer:
Michael B. Rappaport
University of San Diego School of Law
Guest Lecturer:
Michael D. Ramsey
University of San Diego School of Law
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Originalism Works-in-Progress Conference
—February 5 – 6, 2010
Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism, the conference will involve the presentation of a variety of new works concerning originalism. All scholars who write about originalism are invited to attend.
Conference Organizers:
- Professor Michael D. Ramsey – University of San Diego School of Law
- Professor Michael B. Rappaport – University of San Diego School of Law
Watch the Conference | Listen to the Conference | More Information
Public Lecture by the Honorable Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia —September 2, 2009
Keynote Speaker:
The Honorable Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice for the United States Supreme Court
With:
- Professor Donald Dripps – University of San Diego School of Law
- Professor Michael D. Ramsey – University of San Diego School of Law
- Professor Michael B. Rappaport – University of San Diego School of Law
- Professor Steven D. Smith – University of San Diego School of Law
The Poverty of Public Meaning Originalism
Jack Rakove25th Annual Nathaniel L. Nathanson Memorial Lecture
— April 23, 2009
Keynote Speaker:
Professor Jack Rakove
William Robertson Coe Professor of History and American Studies, and Professor of Political Sciences and of Law
Stanford University
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Law and Judicial Duty
Philip Hamburger — Friday, March 27, 2009
Guest Lecturer:
Philip Hamburger
Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law
Columbia Law School
Commentary by:
Professor Sai Prakash, USD School of Law
Does Summary Judgment Violate the Original Meaning of the Constitution?
Suja A. Thomas— Friday, March 20, 2009
Guest Lecturer:
Suja A. Thomas, University of Illinois College of Law.
Commentary by:
Shaun Martin, University of San Diego School of Law.
Download Professor Thomas's Paper
The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights: What Have We Learned? Why Does it Matter?
Michael Kent Curtis— Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Keynote Speaker:
Michael Kent Curtis, the Judge Donald L. Smith Professor in Constitutional and Public Law at Wake Forest School of Law and one of the foremost constitutional historians in the United States.
Other Presenters:
- Richard Aynes – University of Akron School of Law
- Donald Dripps – University of San Diego School of Law
- Kurt Lash – Loyola Law School
- Stephen Presser – Northwestern University
- Lawrence Rosenthal – Chapman University School of Law
- Bernadette Meyler – Cornell Law School
- Lawrence Solum – University of Illinois College of Law
- George C. Thomas, III – Rutgers Law School
- Bryan Wildenthal – Thomas Jefferson School of Law
Commenters:
- Yale Kamisar – University of San Diego School of Law
- Mike Rappaport – University of San Diego School of Law
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Leaving the Chisholm Trail: The Eleventh Amendment and the Background Principle of Strict Construction
Kurt Lash— November 7, 2008
Guest Lecturer:
Professor Kurt Lash, the James P. Bradley Chair of Constitutional Law at Loyola Law School, is an expert in constitutional law, theory and history.
Download Professor Lash's Paper
Originalism: Lessons From Some Things That Go Without Saying
Robert Bennett24th Annual Nathaniel L. Nathanson Memorial Lecture
— March 11, 2008
Guest Lecturer:
Robert Bennett, Nathaniel L. Nathanson Professor of Law and Former Dean of Northwestern University School of Law.
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Bernard Siegan Memorial Conference on Economic Liberties, Property Rights, and the Original Meaning of the Constitution
— November 16-17, 2007
Keynote Speaker:
Professor Richard Epstein
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War Power Debate
— February 12, 2007
Speakers:
Architect of the Patriot Act, John Yoo, and USD Law Professor Michael D. Ramsey debated President George W. Bush's constitutional powers during the War on Terror.
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Inaugural Lecture for the USD School of Law Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism
Antonin Scalia— August 30, 2006
Keynote Speaker:
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice for the United States Supreme Court
