Traditionalism Rising, Part I: Defining Traditionalism and Locating It in the Court's 2021 Term
Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Title
Reason - The Volokh Conspiracy
Publication Date
9-6-2022
Abstract
(Excerpt)
Eugene has graciously invited me to write a few posts about my new article, Traditionalism Rising (forthcoming in the Journal of Contemporary Legal Studies and part of a symposium this fall at the University of San Diego School of Law). The piece builds on and extends a larger project about constitutional traditionalism developed in earlier papers (here and here), as well as in a broader research program, The Tradition Project, that my colleague (and Volokh co-conspirator) Mark Movsesian and I have pursued over several years at our Center for Law and Religion. I've been a dedicated reader of the Volokh Conspiracy since I was a law prof pup, so it is a pleasure for me to contribute something.
My posts will: (1) define traditionalism and locate it in the Supreme Court's work this past term; (2) compare traditionalism and originalism, particularly what the paper calls "liquidated originalism"; (3) address traditionalism's "level of generality" problem, the problem how to select the operative tradition; (4) offer several justifications for traditionalism; (5) consider the problem of traditionalism's politics. Most of the material is excerpted or summarized from the article, but I invite readers to look at the piece for the full-dress argument. I welcome reactions to the paper, which is still a draft.
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Originally published at: https://reason.com/volokh/2022/09/06/traditionalism-rising-part-i-defining-traditionalism-and-locating-it-in-the-courts-2021-term/