I published a new Op-Ed wit my Heritage Guide co-editor John Malcolm in the Washington Times. We explain how the originalist revolution began in the late 1980s, even if it would have been difficult to discern at the time.
Here is the opening:
As they celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year, many Americans will remember fondly the patriotism and pageantry of the 1976 bicentennial. Few people were even aware of the bicentennial of 1987, the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution.
Yet by the end of President Reagan's administration, the originalist revolution was underway. Indeed, with the benefit of hindsight, the preceding three years changed the course of the Constitution.
First, in 1985, Attorney General Edwin Meese III battled Justice William J. Brennan in a public debate about originalism. Second, in 1986, Reagan, after Meese's advice, elevated William H. Rehnquist to chief justice and nominated Antonin Scalia to the high court. Third, in 1987, though Judge Robert Bork's nomination was unfairly blocked, his unapologetic embrace of originalism set the template for future nominees.
The Roberts court turns 20 this year, but we should proudly celebrate the fourth decade of the originalist revolution.
