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"What the Hearings Missed" -- Hadley Arkes at The American Mind

By The James Wilson Institute • Apr 13 2022
In the aftermath of Judge Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court, Hadley Arkes analyzes the Senate hearings. Despite some well-timed questions, Republicans ultimately missed their chance to put Judge Jackson on the record defending the…

"'It’s Good (Not) to be the King': Qualified Praise for Michael McConnell" -- Garrett Snedeker

By The James Wilson Institute • Mar 18 2022
Anchoring Truths co-founder Garrett Snedeker offers qualified praise for Prof. Michael McConnell's recent book on executive power under the Constitution. While McConnell argues convincingly for public meaning originalism, he implicitly…

"Once More Unto the Breach" -- Hadley Arkes

By The James Wilson Institute • Mar 7 2022
In a response to Ed Whelan’s critique of “On Overturning Roe,” Prof. Arkes insists that the moral argument against Roe is the only logical one for judges who believe in the deep wrong of abortion. The pro-life cause rests on objective…

Podcast at First Things: Hadley Arkes and R. R. Reno discuss “On Overruling Roe”

By The James Wilson Institute • Mar 3 2022
Professor Hadley Arkes and First Things editor R. R. Reno talk about Arkes’s recent article, “On Overruling Roe,” focusing on originalist jurisprudence, the relevance of natural law to abortion, and the Dobbs case. "On Overruling Roe" may…

"Breaking the Sotomayor Mold" -- Kody W. Cooper

By The James Wilson Institute • Feb 25 2022
Kody Cooper argues that a new justice in the mold of Sotomayor would fail to pass the "test of truth" when it comes to abortion, religious liberty, and takings. Some excerpts: "In the wake of Justice Breyer’s retirement…

"Justice Byron White and Abortion" -- Hadley Arkes in The Catholic Thing

By The James Wilson Institute • Feb 24 2022
Responding to Richard Doerflinger's critique of "Waiting for Dobbs," Prof. Arkes asserts that conservative justices could successfully outlaw most abortions by returning to Justice White’s standard: only abort to save the mother’s life. At…

"Originalism Is Not Enough" -- Hadley Arkes in Claremont Review of Books

By The James Wilson Institute • Feb 17 2022
In a review of Drakeman’s The Hollow Core of Constitutional Theory: Why We Need the Framers, Prof. Hadley Arkes contends that, when debating moral issues such as abortion and freedom of religion, judges should look beyond the text of the…

"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,…

Takeaways from Oral Arguments in Dobbs- Hadley Arkes in First Things

By The James Wilson Institute • Dec 2 2021
After the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Dobbs v Jackson Woman’s Health Organization, JWI Founder and Director Hadley Arkes proffered his thoughts on what happened and what it means for pro-lifers. Some excerpts from the…

"Common Good and Common Belief in the Common Law" -- Timon Cline

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 30 2021
Analyzing past Supreme Court decisions on religion and public health, Timon Cline argues that the best judges consider public opinion as they attempt to rule in favor of the common good. Some excerpts: "The simple conclusion to be…

"Corporations, Churches, Persons, and the Natural Law" -- Robert Miller

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 23 2021
Responding to Professor MacLeod, Robert Miller argues that the government should respect associations not because these associations themselves constitute "persons" with natural rights, but because the people involved have rights. Some…

"Abortion as Anti-Law" - Hadley Arkes in National Review

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 20 2021
In anticipation of the Dobbs v Jackson Woman's Health Organization oral argument, JWI Founder and Director, Hadley Arkes opines on the real possibility the Supreme Court issues an opinion reshaping its jurisprudence on abortion in the…

Leadership & the Law Awards Dinner 2021

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 19 2021
The 2021 JWI Awards Dinner honored Attorney General William Barr. This private dinner took place in November of 2021 and included 84 select guests. Attendees heard from JWI Chairman Doug Neff as he talked about the impact of the James…

"Why State Courts Matter" -- Jesse Merriam at Anchoring Truths and Law & Liberty

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 18 2021
Jesse Merriam responds to Holden Tanner and Josh Hammer, arguing that state courts matter not merely because they strengthen conservative power in the federal courts, but because states are the most basic guardians of liberty. Some…

"Our Divided House: A Review of Charles Kesler’s Crisis of Two Constitutions" -- Gerard V. Bradley

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 17 2021
Gerard Bradley reviews Kesler's Crisis of Two Constitutions, which argues for a "reborn American conservatism" with natural law principles and the Constitution at its center. Not only does our constitutional government presuppose a…

"No Free Exercise for Aztecs—or Abortionists" -- Jordan Ballor

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 17 2021
Jordan Ballor argues that the right to religious liberty is not absolute, and that courts should refuse religious exemptions to those who violate natural law by practicing abortion in the name of religion. Some excerpts: "It is a…

"Churches: An Existence of Their Own" -- Adam Macleod

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 17 2021
Prof. Adam MacLeod argues that churches, corporate entities, and trusts exist independently of government recognition or contract, deriving their existence from the fundamental right to associate and to form private property institutions…

"Is it Time to Rethink the School Prayer Cases?" -- Francis Beckwith

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 12 2021
Prof. Francis Beckwith argues that the Supreme Court should overturn Engel and Schempp, which put religious people at a decided disadvantage, rather than establishing religious equality. Returning to the original understanding of the First…

PODCAST: Judge Robert Conrad on John Fisher and Thomas More

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 5 2021
Join JWI Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and Intern Seth Root as they interview Judge Robert Conrad of the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. They discuss his new book, John Fisher and Thomas More:…

"Sentimental Judgments" -- Garrett Snedeker at Law & Liberty

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 5 2021
Garrett Snedeker analyzes proposed reforms to the criminal justice system as presented in Judge Rakoff's Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free. Rakoff's arguments against "mass incarceration," the death penalty, and the…

"Judge Pryor’s Friendly Fire" -- Hadley Arkes at Law & Liberty

By The James Wilson Institute • Nov 4 2021
Prof. Arkes defends "A Better Originalism" against Judge William Pryor's critique, arguing that the work of natural law doesn't end with the Constitution: judges must continually consult natural law principles as they apply the law to…
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