The James Wilson Foundation on Natural Rights and the American Founding

JWI Intern Peter Spence sat down for an interview with Class of 2020 Fellow Holden Tanner, who recently graduated from Yale Law School. They talked about his experience with the James Wilson Fellowship, the Natural Law, and a special program at Yale that has allowed him to spread the Natural Law teachings. The transcript of […]

In an exclusive essay for JWI’s newest publication, Anchoring Truths, JWI Founder and Director Hadley Arkes offered some reflections on the recent Supreme Court ruling in Fulton v. Philadelphia. He describes the conservative frustration with the ruling Employment Division v. Smith (1990) but suggests that their ire with the holding is misplaced. Given that the […]

JWI Fellowship alumnus and legal counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Nick Reaves (’15) responded to JWI Scholar Francis Beckwith’s piece declaring Lemon to be dead with a roadmap for Establishment jurisprudence. Reaves begins by listing more criticisms of Lemon, including its unworkability for all the ways government can come into contact with religion, […]

Patrick Henry College Associate Professor Jesse Merriam and JWI affiliated scholar Josh Hammer joined JWI Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker to discuss Professor Merriam’s article, “A Better Legal Conservatism,” published in The American Mind. Prof. Merriam’s article was in response to “A Better Originalism,” co-authored by Prof. Hadley Arkes, Garrett Snedeker, Josh Hammer, and Matthew Peterson. […]

The Federalist Society released their latest installment in a series of videos featuring JWI Founder and Director, Professor Hadley Arkes, discussing the natural law foundations of our Constitution and jurisprudence. In this latest short clip, Professor Arkes explains how all laws in some way restrict life, liberty, or property. Therefore, our central question must be, […]

In an essay as part of our ongoing collaboration with Law & Liberty, Eric Hageman, James Wilson Fellowship Class of ’16, adds his analysis of the current legal and judicial landscape to the current discussion that has been sparked by “A Better Originalism.” Hageman agrees that the current legal culture is rife with the “sophistry” […]

After being cited twice yesterday in the Court’s much anticipated ruling on religious liberty, JWI Trustee and Senior Scholar Gerard V. Bradley declares that “Fulton v. Philadelphia is a remarkable case indeed.” Professor Bradley outlines where the Court currently stands on the controversial 1990 ruling in Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith. […]

Associate Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court of the United States cited JWI Trustee and Senior Scholar Gerard V. Bradley twice in his concurrence for today’s decision in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. This highly anticipated ruling on religious liberty has garnered much speculation among the public and is one of the biggest rulings […]

In his column for The Catholic Thing, JWI Founder and Director Prof. Hadley Arkes expresses worry that the Supreme Court might seek to take the easy way out of the ultimate question haunting our jurisprudence: should the Court overturn Roe v. Wade? Prof. Arkes suggests that the Court, under the guise of prudence, may invent […]

SCOTUS101, a Heritage Foundation podcast, recently interviewed JWI Fellowship alumnus and junior associate at the law firm Schaerr Jaffe LLP Joshua Prince (’18) about “how a young lawyer can start a career as an appellate advocate.” The podcast can be heard here.