Originalism's Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution
Originalism's Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution
Lee Strang (Ohio State University)
Originalism's Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution
Research Seminar
MCC Center for Constitutional Politics
Date: 20 January 2025, 4.00pm
Venue: Bakócz Tamás room
The foundation of the American legal system and democratic culture is its longstanding written Constitution. However, a contentious debate now exists between originalists, who employ the Constitution's original meaning, and Nonoriginalists, who argue for a living constitution interpretation. The first natural law justification for an originalist interpretation of the American Constitution, Originalism's Promise presents an innovative foundation for originalism and a novel description of its character. The book provides a deep, rich, and practical explanation of originalism, including the most-detailed originalist theory of precedent in the literature. Of interest to judges, scholars, and lawyers, it will help all Americans better understand their own Constitution and shows why their reverence for it, its Framers, and its legal system, is supported by sound reasons. Originalism's Promise is a powerful contribution to the most important theory in constitutional interpretation.
Lee J. Strang serves as the executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University. Before joining Ohio State University, he served as the inaugural director of the University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership. He joined the Toledo College of Law faculty in 2008, was granted tenure in 2010, and was named John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values in 2015. He has been a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Ohio Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and reappointed as chair in 2023.
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MCC students can earn credit for actively participating in the event, provided they complete the required reading and prepare three questions for the Q&A session of the research seminar.
Questions related to the required reading must be submitted to Kálmán Pócza at pocza.kalman@mcc.hu by 11:00 PM on January 19, 2025.
Required Reading: Please contact Kálmán Pócza to obtain the electronic version of the paper.
Submission Deadline: January 19, 2024, by 11:00 PM.