On Feb. 7 in Foundation Hall's Manzulli Boardroom, Georgetown University professor Randy E. Barnett delivered the inaugural Founding Fathers Distinguished Lecture, “From Bork to Gorsuch: How Originalism Was Mainstreamed.” Barnett is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts and is director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. His latest book is “Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People” (2016).
In October 1987, after lengthy and contentious hearings, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork was defeated by a vote of 58 to 42. Six Republicans joined 52 Democrats in opposing Bork’s nomination. A major objection was Bork’s commitment to “originalism” as a method of constitutional interpretation. Thirty years later, President Trump nominated self-professed originalist judge Neil Gorsuch to the court. Gorsuch was confirmed by a vote of 54 to 45, with two Democrats joining all 52 Republicans. Barnett explained what had changed to lead to such a different outcome, and what those changes bode for the future of the Supreme Court and the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers Distinguished Lecture Series is designed to feature speakers on topics such as limited government, family values, national defense and the free-market economy.
