The Corner

The Originalist

Today on Uncommon Knowledge, Mr. Justice Antonin Scalia on the principle that has animated his entire career:  interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning. 

“The originalist has easy answers for many things, especially the most controversial things in modern times.  [Does] the equal protection clause require that states permit same sex marriage?  That is not a hard question for an originalist.  Nobody ever thought that is what the equal protection clause meant….[Is there] a right to abortion?  For Pete’s sake, it was criminal in every state for 200 years….

“So I have easy answers to a lot of stuff.  Whereas, for the ‘living constitutionalist,’ there are no answers.”

Justice Scalia on the only right way for a Supreme Court justice to do his job.  To watch in full, click here.

Peter Robinson — Peter M. Robinson is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
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