The Corruption of Constitutional Conservatism

ABSTRACT:

This very short essay elaborates on Justice Alito’s comment that the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage in Obergefell v. Hodges, is evidence of “the deep and perhaps irremediable corruption of our legal culture’s conception of constitutional interpretation.” One contributor to this corruption has been the success of Jack Balkin’s “living originalism,” which flies the false flag of originalism in order to advance the progress of living constitutionalism. Balkin has begun to enlist prominent originalists, including Steven Calabresi, in this operation, which will make it harder for the next generation of law students to learn what genuine originalism is.