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"On Overturning Roe" -- Hadley Arkes in First Things

By The James Wilson Institute • Feb 15 2022

Comparing abortion to slavery, Hadley Arkes explains how conservative jurisprudence has obscured the central issue of abortion--the killing of small lives--by referring the decision to the States. Though popular, such traditional…

"The Smith Case, Religious Freedom, and Originalism" -- Christopher Wolfe in Public Discourse

By The James Wilson Institute • Feb 10 2022

Responding to the Fulton decision, Christopher Wolfe argues that conservative judges who wish to uphold originalism should not overturn Smith. Some excerpts: "The Smith opinion was written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the greatest…

"Waiting for Dobbs" -- Hadley Arkes in The Catholic Thing

By The James Wilson Institute • Feb 9 2022

Professor Arkes anticipates what might happen if the Supreme Court seeks to take “the low door under the whole” in the Dobbs case—sustaining the law in Mississippi while affecting not to overrule Roe v. Wade. Some excerpts: "The…

"Recovering a Conservative State Legal Theory" -- Jeffrey Bristol in Anchoring Truths and Law & Liberty

By The James Wilson Institute • Jan 28 2022

Responding to Holden Tanner and Jesse Merriam, Jeffrey Bristol argues that state courts limit themselves by adopting the same sort of originalism as federal courts--and that Erie, far from wrenching common law reasoning from the states,…

"When 'Matter' Really Matters" -- Jesse Merriam

By The James Wilson Institute • Jan 17 2022

Jesse Merriam argues that Engel and Schempp are here to stay because the "matter" of modern-day society has corrupted the "form" of American jurisprudence. Rather than attempting to overturn these cases, conservative legal scholars and…

"States, Courts, and Common-Good Conservatism" -- Holden Tanner

By The James Wilson Institute • Jan 3 2022

Holden Tanner continues his dialogue with Josh Hammer and Jesse Merriam, arguing that to reform American jurisprudence conservatives need a new synthesis of the natural law tradition and the Antifederalist vision of state power. Some…

"And All the Students Said, 'Amen'” -- Keisha Russell

By The James Wilson Institute • Dec 17 2021

Keisha Toni Russell, Counsel at First Liberty Institute, argues that young Americans learn to respect religious liberty--and individual rights more generally--when religion flourishes in public. Some excerpts: "In the early 1960s,…

2021 James Wilson Awards Dinner

By The James Wilson Institute • Dec 10 2021

We were grateful to host an intimate Awards Dinner on Nov. 18, 2021, to honor our first Leadership & the Law Award recipient, Attorney General William Barr. We also celebrated the achievements of the James Wilson Institute so far.…

‘Dobbs’ and the Conservative Legal Movement - Gerald V. Bradley in National Catholic Register

By The James Wilson Institute • Dec 7 2021

James Wilson Institute's Senior Scholar, Gerry Bradley, writes in the National Catholic Register about Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization and how if Roe is overturned, it would not necessarily mean the end of abortion or even the…

"A Common Call to Prayer" -- Gunnar Gundersen

By The James Wilson Institute • Dec 6 2021

Continuing our symposium on school prayer, JWI Affiliated Scholar Gunnar Gundersen argues that the Establishment Clause gives federal judges no right to restrict religious activity in American public education. By forbidding school prayer,…

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