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Side-by-side photographs of Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.

On Garrison, Douglass, and American Colonialism

Examining how William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass interpreted the nation's relationship with the Constitution.
by Maggie Blackhawk via LPE Project on April 22, 2024
Antonin Scalia speaking at a Federalist Society event.

How the Federalist Society Conquered the American Legal System

How the Federalist Society became the engine of the conservative legal movement—and where it might be headed next.
by Peter Shamshiri, Rhiannon Hamam, Michael Liroff, Amanda Hollis-Brusky via Balls And Strikes on February 13, 2024

Why the Long Shadow of Bush v. Gore Looms Over the Supreme Court’s Colorado Case

In the fight over keeping Trump’s name on the ballot, the 2000 decision is a warning but not a precedent.
by E. Tammy Kim via The New Yorker on February 7, 2024
A cartoon Trump is shooed away by a hand in a judge's robe

The Case for Disqualification

Three years later, amid another national election, the American public is still slow to understand the enormity of January 6, 2021.
by Sean Wilentz via New York Review of Books on January 30, 2024
Lincoln being sworn in by Chief Justice Taney.

We Are Already Defying the Supreme Court

The risks of calling on politicians to push back against the court must be weighed against the present reality of a malign judicial dictatorship.
by Samuel Moyn, Ryan D. Doerfler via Dissent on January 22, 2024

When Constitutional-Law Professors Fight

On the folly of relying on history to settle the debate over whether the Fourteenth Amendment should bar Trump from office.
by William Hogeland via Hogeland's Bad History on January 10, 2024
Old City Hall, Wall St., New York City.

Originalism and the Nature of Rights

When we try to recover the “original meaning” of constitutional amendments, we begin with deeply engrained premises about the nature of what we're looking for.
by Jud Campbell via The Panorama on November 27, 2023
U.S. Capitol building

Searching for the Perfect Republic

On the 14th amendment – and if it might stop Trump.
by Eric Foner, Ted Widmer via The Guardian on November 15, 2023
Donald Trump behind bars made of the US Constitution

The Constitution Prohibits Trump From Ever Being President Again

The only question is whether American citizens today can uphold that commitment.
by Laurence H. Tribe, J. Michael Luttig via The Atlantic on August 19, 2023

Constrain the Court—Without Crippling It

Critics of the Supreme Court think it has lost its claim to legitimacy. But proposals for reforming it must strike a balance with preserving its independence.
by Laurence H. Tribe via New York Review of Books on July 27, 2023
Hands placing silhouettes of witnesses onto a chart using tweezers.

An Offer You Can’t Refuse

How a mob statute metastasized.
by Piper French via The Drift on July 12, 2023
Justice Clarence Thomas.

Clarence Thomas Wants to Demolish Indian Law

The conservative justice is on course for an originalist fight with Neil Gorsuch.
by Matt Ford via The New Republic on June 23, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court building where "Equal Justice Under Law" is written in stone.

The Originalist Case for Affirmative Action?

The argument made recently by Kim Forde-Mazrui may not be in good faith, but it does raise important questions about the meaning of the Constitution.
by Tal Fortgang via Law & Liberty on June 5, 2023
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist testifies to a House Financial Services subcommittee about minting coins in commemoration of former Chief Justice John Marshall on March 10, 2004.

There’s Unsettling New Evidence About William Rehnquist’s Views on Segregation

The Supreme Court Justice's defense of Plessy v. Ferguson in a 1993 memo continues to influence the court's interpretation of the 14th amendment.
by Dahlia Lithwick, Richard L. Hasen via Slate on June 1, 2023
The Supreme Court in 1904.

The Insular Cases Survive Because the American Legal System Keeps Them Safe

The justices’ decision not to hear challenges to the explicitly racist Insular Cases is part of a long tradition of favoring process over substance.
by Peter Shamshiri via Balls And Strikes on November 14, 2022
Painting of a person facing another person whose head is made up of sixteen little heads. Untitled (Study) by Geoff McFetridge.

Originalism’s Charade

Two new books make a devastating case against claims that the Constitution should be interpreted on the basis of its purported “original meaning.”
by David Cole via New York Review of Books on November 3, 2022
Eric Foner sits in an arm chair on stage during an interview, holding a microphone.

“Originalism Is Intellectually Indefensible”

On the persistent myth of the colorblind Constitution that the Supreme Court's conservatives have embraced.
by Eric Foner, Cristian Farias via Balls And Strikes on October 28, 2022
Portrait photo of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
partner

Justice Jackson Offered Democrats a Road Map for Securing Equal Rights

Tying the fight for equal rights to the founders and the Constitution has worked before.
by Evan Turiano via Made By History on October 10, 2022
Graphic design of a red, fractured United States on a yellow background

There Is Absolutely Nothing to Support the ‘Independent State Legislature’ Theory

Such a doctrine would be antithetical to the Framers’ intent, and to the text, fundamental design, and architecture of the Constitution.
by J. Michael Luttig via The Atlantic on October 3, 2022
Statue of Jefferson in front of white columns of building facade

The Decline of Church-State Separation

On the fraught and turbulent relationship between religion and government in the U.S.
by Steven Green, Eric C. Miller via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on April 26, 2022
Black and white people sitting at a lunch counter.

When Rights Went Right

Is the American conception of constitutional rights too absolute?
by David Cole via New York Review of Books on March 31, 2022
Members of the 1976 United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Warren Burger, center.

It’s Been 40 Years Since the Supreme Court Tried to Fix the Death Penalty— Here’s How It Failed

A close look at the grand compromise of 1976.
by Evan Mandery via The Marshall Project on March 30, 2016
Crowds of people surrounding the General Land Office and accompanying tents

Hail to the Pencil Pusher

American bureaucracy's long and useful history.
by Mike Konczal via Boston Review on September 21, 2015
“Authority of Law” statue by James Earle Frasier in front of the United States Supreme Court building.

Which History in Obergefell v. Hodges?

The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage by framing it as a historical evolution of liberty, dignity, and equality under the Constitution.
by Nancy F. Cott via Perspectives on History on July 1, 2015
Caricature drawing of Charles Black

Pursuing the Pursuit of Happiness

Traditional Supreme Court precedent may depend too much on substantive due process to safeguard human rights.
by Laurence H. Tribe via New York Review of Books on September 24, 1998
Donald Trump shakes the hand of a border patrol officer while a line of others waits to meet him.

State of Exception

National security governance, then and now.
by David Klion via The Drift on June 24, 2025
David Souter

Justice David Souter Was the Antithesis of the Present

His jurisprudence has been overshadowed by that of his showier colleagues but was a model of principled restraint.
by Jeannie Suk Gersen via The New Yorker on May 15, 2025
Flags of Native American tribes at Omaha Beach memorial.

No, Native American Citizenship Does Not Support Limits on Birthright Citizenship

This defense misconstrues both the Constitution and the Supreme Court decisions relying on it.
by Bethany Berger via Lawfare on March 12, 2025
New citizens swearing an oath to the US at a naturalization ceremony.

The Forgotten Meaning of the Citizenship Clause

Universal birthright citizenship was never the original intent.
by Amy Swearer via Law & Liberty on February 13, 2025
A collage of the United States Constitution, seal, and a hand holding two small American flags.

The Attack on Birthright Citizenship Is a Big Test for the Constitution

Does the text mean what it plainly says?
by Adam Serwer via The Atlantic on January 22, 2025
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