The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back Cover
Podcast Mentions

The Originalism Trap How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back

Madiba K. Dennie

A rallying cry for a more just approach to the law that bolsters social justice movements by throwing out originalism—the theory that judges should interpret the Constitution exactly as conservatives say the Founders meant it There is no one true way to interpret the Constitution, but that’s not wh...

Podcasts 1
Quotes 5
Strict Scrutiny

The book critiques originalism, calling it a "lawyer joke" and a "scam", and proposes an alternative, inclusive constitutionalism, which emphasizes the Reconstruction Amendments' liberatory commands.

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I love explaining to people who ask me what originalism is by telling them that originalism is the world's best lawyer joke.

— Episode: No Choice but to Stan: A Deep Dive on So...

Episode: No Choice but to Stan: A Deep Dive on Solicitor Ge...

The book critiques originalism, calling it a "lawyer joke" and a "scam", and proposes an alternative, inclusive constitutionalism, which emphasizes the Reconstruction Amendments' liberatory commands.

"

I love explaining to people who ask me what originalism is by telling them that originalism is the world's best lawyer joke.

I feel like a lot of us have known for a while that originalism is trash.

what really gave me the impetus that sort of pushed me over the edge and like, OK, I need to say something about this at length and for a hopefully mass audience was when the Dobbs decision was leaked.

they are really going to use this notion that we can't have rights now, that we didn't have then to chain women to the past and revoke our constitutional rights.

all versions of originalism can be boiled down to a central thesis...which is the idea that the meaning of the Constitution is fixed in time.

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