One of Justice Antonin Scalia’s greatest legacies is his promotion of constitutional originalism.
William Baude
We appreciate helpful comments and criticisms from Larry Alexander, Samuel Bray, Eric Citron, Jonah Gelbach, Abbe Gluck, Richard McAdams, Sean Mirski, Eric Posner, Richard Re, Stephen Sachs, Adam Samaha, Frederick Schauer, Asher Steinberg, James Stern, David Strauss, Ilan Wurman, the participants in the Legislation Roundtable at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and the editors of The University of Chicago Law Review. We also appreciate research support from the SNR Denton Fund and the Alumni Faculty Fund, and excellent research assistance from Kelly Holt.
Many tenets of statutory interpretation take a peculiar form. They allow consideration of outside information—legislative history, practical consequences, the statute’s title, etc.—but only if the statute’s text is unclear or ambiguous.
I. The Case for Increased Rigor
We begin by surveying unsystematic claims about the state of legal doctrine, then go on to explain why, even if the claims are true, there are still benefits to more systematic review.
A. Examples
Introduction
Volumes
- Volume 91.2March2024
- Volume 91.1January2024
- Volume 90.8December2023
- Volume 90.7November2023
- Volume 90.6October2023
- Volume 90.5September2023
- Volume 90.4June2023
- Volume 90.3May2023
- Volume 90.2March2023
- Volume 90.1January2023
- Volume 89.8December2022
- Volume 89.7November2022
- Volume 89.6October2022
- Volume 89.5September2022
- Volume 89.4June2022
- Volume 89.3May2022
- Volume 89.2March2022
- Volume 89.1January2022
- 84 SpecialNovember2017
- Online 83Presidential Politics and the 113th Justice
- Online 82Grassroots Innovation & Regulatory Adaptation
- 83.4Fall 2016
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- 83.2Spring 2016
- 83.1Winter 2016
- 82.4Fall 2015
- 82.3Summer 2015
- 82.2Spring 2015
- 82.1Winter 2015
- 81.4Fall 2014
- 81.3Summer 2014
- 81.2Spring 2014
- 81.1Winter 2014