Originalism

This is probably one of the few topics of which Law and Liberty has any essays of that are useful to a paleocon.

The Honesty of Originalism by James R. Rogers

The central case for legal originalism is commonsensical and compelling: Read legal texts as we read everything else—honestly. Think of it as an application of the Golden Rule: Read others as you would like to be read yourself, including legal texts. And if you don’t like what you read in a legal text when you’ve read it honestly, the solution is not then to read the text dishonestly, the solution is to advocate changing the legal text.

So, contra F.H. Buckley, it is not the case that “if originalism commends itself, then, it must be because the Framers’ Constitution is morally superior to that of today’s Constitution.” You don’t read the letter from Aunt Jenny honestly only if what she wrote is morally superior to anything else she might have written. You read it honestly and then disagree with her if you find what she’s written to be morally wanting. (We might even advocate to Aunt Jenny that she amend her letter: “That’s not true; you take that back!”)

And, contra Adrian Vermeule, reading texts honestly—including legal texts—is not a “political and rhetorical” strategy based on fleeting political “utility.” If one doesn’t believe that the current Constitution promotes society’s “common good” if read honestly, then propose a different constitution that would achieve the common good as one sees it, and we can debate the proposal. But don’t advocate reading the current Constitution dishonestly to achieve purposes any honest reader would admit the text doesn’t support.