Damon Root on Originalism, the Living Constitution, and the Supreme Court
Is the Constitution a living document that should be read according to the evolving needs of modern society? Or should it instead be interpreted according to its original meaning at the time it was adopted? In his new book America's Unwritten Constitution, Yale law professor and leading liberal academic Akhil Reed Amar offers something of a third way, a progressive twist on originalism that draws heavily from the tactics of living constitutionalism. From Reason's March issue, Damon Root passes judgment on Amar's idiosyncratic approach.