Originalism

Anchoring Originalism

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Editor’s Note: National Review has granted Anchoring Truths permission to reprint a 2023 review by Prof. Joel Alicea of Mere Natural Law by JWI Founder & Co-Director Hadley Arkes, along with Prof. Arkes’s response to Prof. Alicea. Please find Prof. Alicea’s review in full below. Is originalism a morally empty jurisprudence? For decades, various scholars working

Current Legal Issues Shaping Conservatism: Anchoring Truths Co-Founder Garrett Snedeker on Conservative Conversations with ISI

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Anchoring Truths Co-Founder Garrett Snedeker joined the Conservative Conversations with ISI (Intercollegiate Studies Institute) Podcast. Hosts Tom Sarrouf (a former JWI Intern!) and Marlo Slayback discuss the recent Supreme Court term including the Court’s rulings on executive power in Trump v. U.S., administrative law after Loper Bright v. Raimondo, standing doctrine in Murthy v. Missouri

Judicial Value Judgments and the Common Good

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Introduction “Common good constitutionalism” is chiefly a criticism of what might be helpfully described as “mainstream” legal conservatism—the prescription for constitutional adjudication exemplified in the opinions of Antonin Scalia and those (in and out of the judiciary) who follow his lead. The “common-good” constitutionalists’ critique centers on the stated commitment of contemporary judicial conservatism to originalism;

2023: A Year in Ideas

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In this special “minisode,” JWI Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and Programs Director Daniel Osborne sit down to talk a bit about the ideas and debates that came to characterize 2023. They discuss Mere Natural Law, Originalism, Historicism, and Courage.

Mere Natural Law—Hadley Arkes on Cross & Gavel Podcast

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Professor Hadley Arkes was featured on the Cross & Gavel podcast of the Christian Legal Society. In an episode recorded in January 2024, he discussed his book, Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution. Professor Arkes is the Edward N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions emeritus at Amherst College

The Pitfalls of the Parents’ Rights Argument

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“The pitfall of the argument in favor of parents’ rights is that it makes the decision for children to be exposed to information about sexual activity or access to puberty blockers a matter of a parent’s will,” writes Sarrouf.

Anchoring Truths
Anchoring Truths is a James Wilson Institute project
The James Wilson Institute’s Mission is to restore to a new generation of lawyers, judges, and citizens the understanding of the American Founders about the first principles of our law and the moral grounds of their own rights.
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