The James Wilson Foundation on Natural Rights and the American Founding

 Richard Brookhiser In May 2019, JWI’s Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker and Intern Josh Hiero shared a discussion with Richard Brookhiser, author of the book John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court (Basic Books, 2018). Brookhiser is an author and a senior editor of National Review. Below you may find: A link to Brookhiser’s book, […]

On May 3, 2019, Professor Daniel Mahoney of Assumption College delivered a lecture on the roles of relativism and morality in our political landscape. The lecture was titled “The New Religion of Humanity: Limitless Relativism and No Moral Ground for Political Life” and was held at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center in Washington, D.C. The event was […]

In a piece titled “Eugenics and Other Evils” for Public Discourse, Prof. Justin Dyer, a JWI Affiliated Scholar, argues that the state has a compelling interest in preventing eugenics. Heightened in the context of abortion, eugenics presents a threat to human dignity and human equality. He reflects upon Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in Box vs. Planned […]

In an essay for Law & Liberty titled “Originalism and Sovereign Immunity”, Prof. Ilan Wurman dissects modern sovereign immunity jurisprudence with an eye toward the original principles invoked in Chisholm v. Georgia.  Wurman observes a gradual expansion of sovereign immunity rights engineered by the Supreme Court in cases like Seminole Tribe v. Florida, Alden v. […]

There are some words or phrases that are universally understood as off limits within the public sphere. In his editorial, “The Business That Dare Not Speak Its Name,” published in the Wall Street Journal, Professor Hadley Arkes echoes this notion in discussing the role of profane words in our society and how any exclusion of […]

Over the past year, the conservative legal movement has celebrated victories for religious freedom. However, in a recent piece for First Things, Professor Arkes expressed his concern that the conservative jurists on the Supreme Court might be falling into a kind of relativism in the way that they articulate their opinions. Take Masterpiece Cakeshop v. […]

On April 23, 2019, Prof. Arkes delivered a lecture to students and faculty at Christendom College in Front Royal, VA. The lecture, entitled “The Case for Natural Law,” was hosted by the Cincinnatus League (an Intercollegiate Studies Institute student group) and Christendom’s Political Science and Economics Department.

In a review for the Spring 2019 Claremont Review of Books, JWI Senior Scholar Professor David F. Forte hails Ronald R. Rotunda’s abridgment of Albert J. Beveridge’s seminal work, Life of John Marshall, as an impressive work. The book incorporates Rotunda’s own commentary, yet importantly retains the spirit and rhythm of Beveridge’s writing. Professor Forte […]

In an essay for the Federalist Society, Joel Nolette calls for bipartisan support of Senator Mike Lee’s Article One Act that would limit presidential discretion in declaring a national emergency. Senator Mike Lee’s bill in the Senate, and Representative Chip Roy’s concurrent bill in the House would reinstate the legislative branch’s ability to check a […]

In a piece for the Claremont Review of Books, JWI Senior Scholar Prof. Michael Uhlmann reviews Richard Brookhiser’s new biography, John Marshall: The Man who Made the Supreme Court, which provides a concise account of Chief Justice’s accomplishments.  In his review, Professor Uhlmann points to John Marshall as an underappreciated titan, whose work and influence–from Marbury […]