Researching the Original Understanding

by Rob Natelson
Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence
The Independence Institute

Lawyers are not necessarily historians, and sometimes it shows.

Unlocking the understanding behind the Constitution’s words is obviously of critical importance in constitutional law. Yet legal writers often make arguments or reach conclusions based on astonishingly few sources. Often they misinterpret the sources they do use. Among the malefactors, alas, are some Supreme Court justices and contributors to the nation’s most prestigious law reviews.

In an effort to raise the quality of originalist research, I’ve written an essay to introduce legal writers to the range of relevant material regarding originalist research

Free! Download a word-seachable PDF file of John Worrall’s 1788 Bibliography of English Law Books.

CONTACT

ROB NATELSON
Senior Fellow, Constitutional Jurisprudence

Phone: 303-279-6536 x114
Biography

BOOK

Get the latest edition of the popular work, The Original Constitution: What It Actually Said and Meant. You can buy it in either hard copy or Kindle here.

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