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John O. McGinnis is the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern University. His book Accelerating Democracy was published by Princeton University Press in 2012. McGinnis is also the coauthor with Mike Rappaport of Originalism and the Good Constitution published by Harvard University Press in 2013 . He is a graduate of Harvard College, Balliol College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School. He has published in leading law reviews, including the Harvard, Chicago, and Stanford Law Reviews and the Yale Law Journal, and in journals of opinion, including National Affairs and National Review.

May 21, 2019|Game of Thrones, institutions, Virtue

Game of Thrones Reminds Us That Virtue Is Not Enough

by John O. McGinnis|10 Comments

Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) in still image from Game of Thrones (HBO Studios).

These days it takes a medieval fantasy to help us remember why liberal democracy is worth cherishing.

May 17, 2019|Alexander Hamilton, Bank of the United States, Edmund Randolph, Elbridge Gerry

How the Framers Embraced Conventional Rules and Avoided Substantive Intent

by John O. McGinnis|3 Comments

Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com).

In the Bank debate, the consensus of the Framers coalesced against use of the substantive intent of the Philadelphia convention.

May 7, 2019|John Hart Ely, Originalism, Roe v. Wade, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer

The Crisis of Left Jurisprudence

by John O. McGinnis|6 Comments

Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg poses for a group photograph at the Supreme Court building on June 1 2017 in Washington, DC. (Credit: Olivier Douliery / Pool via CNP).

It is not clear what it will take for the Left to come up with a compelling response to originalism.

April 30, 2019|Booknotes, Brian Lamb, C-Span, lying, Public Choice, Q and A

Brian Lamb, American Hero, and the Limits of His Achievements

by John O. McGinnis|10 Comments

President George Bush awarding C-Span founder Brian Lamb with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, May 11, 2007 (WENN News/Alamy Stock Photo).

Brian Lamb's heroic failure reminds us that the solution to the dishonesty in government is to limit its reach, not merely increase its transparency.

April 26, 2019|Article V, Howard Gillman, James Madison, Originalism, Progressivism

Originalism Protects the Timelessness of the Constitution

by John O. McGinnis|1 Comment

Photo by andrey_l (shutterstock.com)

Originalism was the way Constitutional law was done until the progressive era came up with the idea of the living constitution.

April 23, 2019|Christianity, Emmanuel Macron, envy, France, gilets jaunes, inequality, laicite, Notre Dame

France, a Nation Mired in an Obsession with Inequality

by John O. McGinnis|4 Comments

Firefighters inspect the structure of Notre Dame on April 16, 2019 (Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock.com).

When many of the richest people in France stepped up to donate for the cathedral's rebuilding the reaction was not gratitude but anger.

April 19, 2019|Antonin Scalia, Elena Kagan, Emulex Corp. v. Variabedian, original methods, Originalism, textualism

Justice Kagan Recognizes Legal Meaning as the Proper Object of Interpretation

by John O. McGinnis|1 Comment

U.S. Supreme Court (Rena Schild/shutterstock.com).

Justice Kagan often asks just the right question in statutory construction cases, and she should carry her logic over to constitutional questions as well.

April 16, 2019|Mueller report, Norms, redaction, William Barr