Are We All Common Good Constitutionalists Now?
John Ehrett ’21 analyzes the role Vermeule’s book plays
in calling for a return to better legal reasoning. Yet, even Vermeule’s
solution may not address the root of the problem.
natural law
“Moral Truth & Constitutional Conservatism” with Prof. Gerry Bradley, JWI Trustee & Senior Scholar
On May 6, Prof. Gerard Bradley of the University of Notre Dame School of Law delivered an address titled, “Moral Truth and Constitutional Conservatism.” We’re pleased to present Prof. Bradley’s lecture in this special edition of the Anchoring Truths Podcast.
A Jurisprudential Red Pill: Part II
Evelyn Blacklock continues her commentary on Vermeule’s Common Good Constitutionalism, showing the strengths of the argument, while also demonstrating some needed nuances between the Classical and the Enlightenment perspectives of law.
“M. Stanton Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom” with Author Steve Hayward
Author Steve Hayward joins Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and JWI Intern Emeline McClellan to discuss his recent book, “Stan Evans: Conservative Wit, Apostle of Freedom.”
A Jurisprudential Red Pill: Part I
Evelyn Blacklock examines Prof. Adrian Vermeule’s “Common Good Constitutionalism” and the alternative it offers to the status quo camps of jurisprudence.
“12 Angry Men & Natural Law” with Film Expert Onalee McGraw
Garrett Snedeker and film expert Onalee McGraw discuss the classic legal drama “12 Angry Men.”
Podcast at First Things: Hadley Arkes and R. R. Reno discuss “On Overruling Roe”
Prof. Arkes discusses “On Overruling Roe” with First Things editor R.R. Reno.
Justice Byron White and Abortion
Responding to Richard Doerflinger’s critique of “Waiting for Dobbs,” Prof. Arkes asserts that conservative justices could successfully outlaw most abortions by returning to Justice White’s standard: only abort to save the mother’s life. At the same time, however, White did the pro-life cause a lasting disservice by focusing not on the rights of unborn babies but on the abuse of “raw judicial power.”
Waiting for Dobbs
Hadley Arkes recalls that day, back in 1986, when Justice Byron White, one of the original dissenters in Roe v. Wade, startled Justice John Paul Stevens by suggesting that he too could accept Roe and a “right to abortion” in some form. Stevens seemed genuinely baffled. What White was offering was an understanding that would keep Roe v. Wade as a shell, while the substance was removed. Professor Arkes tries to reconstruct that argument here as an anticipation of what might happen if the Supreme Court seeks to take “the low door under the whole” in the Dobbs case—sustaining the law in Mississippi while affecting not to overrule Roe v. Wade.
Interfaith Discussion of Natural Law
Our guest panelists discuss how Natural Law intertwines with religion and why it matters, how much natural law depends on theology, and who would benefit the most from Natural Law.
