Originalism Take Two

We continue our discussion of originalism, developing two themes: defenses and criticisms of the original constitution articulated by prominent African American thinkers--Barbara Jordan, Thurgood Marshall, and Frederick Douglass--that bring out the distinction between the Constitution as enforceable law and as symbol of aspirations; and historians' critiques of originalism as developed most prominently recently by Jonathan Gienapp. The two of us disagree about some important details, but end up agreeing that at the very least originalism doesn't accurately describe the way even purported originalists among the justices actually seek to justify their decisions.