Reexamining Originalism

After falling out of favor during the twentieth century, originalism has returned as a compelling and popular interpretive theory. Modern originalism is typically associated with political conservatives. In Reexamining Originalism, I argue that a progressive form of originalism is both more faithful to the Constitution and more similar to early originalism than conservative originalism. The key difference is that progressive originalism respects the Constitution\u27s status as secondary law, whereas conservative originalism is overly concerned with preserving primary applications of law