(By Jeff Wall, Former Clerk to Justice Thomas) Of the various powers granted to Congress by Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, none has been more central to modern federal legislation than the authority “[t]o regulate commerce . . . among the several states.” The Commerce Clause has been the basis for congressional enactments dealing with… Continue reading Justice Thomas and the Commerce Clause
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Justice Thomas on Originalism
(By Gregory E. Maggs, Professor at George Washington University and Former Clerk to Justice Thomas) This essay addresses a basic question about Justice Clarence Thomas’s originalist jurisprudence. When Justice Thomas looks for the original meaning of the Constitution, does he seek (a) the meaning intended by the Framers at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia (“original… Continue reading Justice Thomas on Originalism
Justice Thomas on Federalism
(By Gregory E. Maggs, Professor at George Washington University and Former Clerk to Justice Thomas) The term “federalism” refers to the division of power between the federal government and the state governments. A fundamental principle of federalism, as expressed most clearly in the Tenth Amendment, is that the Constitution confers certain limited legislative powers on… Continue reading Justice Thomas on Federalism
Justice Thomas on Criminal Law
(By John Adams, Partner at McGuire Woods LLP and Former Law Clerk to Justice Thomas and Brian D. Schmalzbach, Associate at McGuire Woods LLP and Former Law Clerk to Justice Thomas) Justice Thomas has extended his unapologetic effort of recovering the original meaning of the Constitution into the law of criminal procedure. The Fourth Amendment protects “the right of… Continue reading Justice Thomas on Criminal Law
Justice Thomas on Voting Rights
(By Will Consovoy, Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC and Former Clerk to Justice Thomas) The Fifteenth Amendment provides that “[t]he right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” and it further… Continue reading Justice Thomas on Voting Rights
Justice Thomas on Racial Preferences
(By Will Consovoy, Consovoy McCarthy Park PLLC and Former Clerk to Justice Thomas) Early in his tenure, Justice Thomas gave a speech in Memphis, Tennessee to the National Bar Association—one of the nation’s oldest organizations of African-American attorneys. In that famous speech, Justice Thomas claimed the right “to think for myself, to refuse to have… Continue reading Justice Thomas on Racial Preferences
Justice Thomas and the Second Amendment: Protecting Liberty and Promoting Equal Justice
(By Steven G. Bradbury, Partner at Dechert LLP and Former Head of the Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush Administration and a Former Clerk to Justice Thomas) So much of the power of Justice Thomas’s work on the Supreme Court springs from his vigilant contemplation of the fuller context of the Court’s decisions. Even… Continue reading Justice Thomas and the Second Amendment: Protecting Liberty and Promoting Equal Justice
Reconsidering the Constitutional Limits of the Administrative State
(By Neomi Rao, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Center for the Study of the Administrative State and Former Clerk for Justice Thomas) In 2015, Justice Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion: “We have overseen and sanctioned the growth of an administrative system that concentrates the power to make laws and the power… Continue reading Reconsidering the Constitutional Limits of the Administrative State