Author

Whitley R.P. Kaufman

Whitley R.P. Kaufman

Professor of Philosophy, UMass Lowell

Commentary

The Supreme Court’s originalists have taken over. Here’s how they interpret the Constitution.

By: - September 26, 2023

Today a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices are either self-described originalists or strongly lean toward originalism. Yet less than 50 years ago, originalism was considered a fringe movement, hardly taken seriously by most legal scholars. So, what is originalism, and why is it so influential today? Originalism is the theory that judges are bound […]