How Originalism Ate the Law: America is captive to a legal theory that dictates our laws on guns, abortion, and so much more. We need to act.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/originalism-ate-the-law-what-now.html

Archived at https://web.archive.org/web/20240510115543/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/05/originalism-ate-the-law-what-now.html

180 points · 9 comments · view on lemmy.world

9 Comments

snooggums@midwest.social · 50 pts · 2y (2 replies)

Originalism would be better named "selective originalism" because it cherry picks specific parts out of context and ignores the rest. A religion of legality.

ghostdoggtv@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 2y

In other words, fundamentalism.

lolcatnip@reddthat.com · 10 pts · 2y

Exactly. It's not a legal theory, just an smokescreen right-wing judges use when their fascist agenda happens to align with some twisted quasi-historical interpretation of the law.

Dagwood222@lemm.ee · 39 pts · 2y (3 replies)

The funny thing is that Jefferson and other 'Founding Fathers' thought that change was good and the dead shouldn't rule the living.

ForestOrca@kbin.social · 29 pts · 2y (2 replies)

And apparently assumed that the constitution should be re-written every 17 years or so. That's the 'constitutional convention' ploy, which I'm not so sure it it's a good idea or not, at this time. smh. we're so fecked. wait, where's I put my optimism... it's around here somewhere.

Dagwood222@lemm.ee · 7 pts · 2y (1 reply)

MAGoo logic.

America needs a Constitutional Convention because the world has changed as we must change with it!

AND

The Convention delegates shouldn't be chosen by a direct popular vote because the Founding Fathers wanted us to live as States!

ForestOrca@kbin.social · 3 pts · 2y

ahhahahahaha

thegreekgeek@midwest.social · 16 pts · 2y

All my homies hate zombie constitutionalism.

RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world · -9 pts · 2y

Originalism has been dead since the Liberals noticed that it was dammed useful.

The Court now uses Historical Practice and Tradition.