The Roberts Court has given new prominence to theories of original meaning as guides for interpreting the Constitution. Several justices have said that originalism is important to their judicial philosophy, and arguments about original meaning have been highlighted in some of the Court’s most controversial opinions in recent years. What is constitutional originalism? How are judges using it? And what does it mean for the future of American democracy? 

Keith E. Whittington is the David Boies Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Whittington’s teaching and scholarship span American constitutional theory, American political and constitutional history, judicial politics, the presidency, and free speech and the law.