The James Wilson Foundation on Natural Rights and the American Founding

We are happy to share the latest publication by one of our 2016 James Wilson Fellows, Kevin LeRoy.  In his piece, “Are the Human-Animal Hybrids Scientists make Human, Beast, or in Between?” Mr. LeRoy explores the substantial of the bioethical questions that recent experiments with human and animal cells have posed.  Mr. LeRoy works as […]

In his piece, “The Ninth Circuit’s Astounding Reasoning,” Garrett Snedeker discusses the complicated state of affairs as the Ninth Circuit has challenged the authority of President Trump’s executive order to temporarily restrict entry of immigrants from certain high-risk countries.  Mr. Snedeker analyzes this controversy in light of two different SCOTUS opinions written by Justice George […]

After taking a brief hiatus to teach his final class at Amherst, Prof. Arkes returns to The Catholic Thing with his piece, “New Prospects on the 44th March for Life.”  He takes this moment to give attention to the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which was introduced in the Senate three days ago. Some excerpts: […]

In National Review Online, Ethan Davis (Amherst ’05) co-authored a tribute to Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain upon the judge assuming “senior status” in late 2016.  Ethan Davis is a former student of Hadley Arkes’s, and Judge O’Scannlain has been a long-term friend of JWI. Davis, who clerked for O’Scannlain in 2008-09, wrote the piece with another former clerk […]

Writing in The Federalist with a piece titled, “Yes, Americans Could Live Without Government-Defined Health Insurance,” Prof. Arkes notes the simple truth that Americans are indeed intelligent enough to make provisions for their medical needs without the government mandating health insurance. Some excerpts: “Why do we assume that the American people will be thrown into […]

In the aftermath of the 2016 election, Prof. Arkes recalls an earlier era in which a robust congressional agenda with Republican leadership shaped the direction of the country. The piece, published in NRO, is titled, “Bring Back That ‘Do-Nothing Republican Congress.’” Some excerpts: “Writers have been trying to compare the political situation now to that of […]

On November 26, 2016, C-SPAN aired a recording of Prof. Hadley Arkes delivering one of his iconic lectures, putting in place the premises that were central to the American regime: “The American Founding and the Crisis of the House Divided.” C-SPAN filmed Prof. Arkes in September 2016 delivering an early session in the course that became known to […]

We are pleased to share a piece composed by one of our 2016 James Wilson Fellows, Kevin LeRoy, “To Fight Assisted Suicide in the Courts, Stop Arguing Federalism.”  In this article published at The Federalist, Mr. LeRoy makes the case that lawyers arguing against physician assisted suicide ought to step back from making a procedural […]

In a personal account of growing up in 1940-50′s Chicago, Prof. Arkes reflects on the changes that the city has undergone–aesthetically, structurally, and morally–in his piece, “The Lost Structures of Civility,” published in City Journal. Some excerpts: “An older colleague in fine arts at Amherst College, Frank Trapp, would drop by the house unannounced in […]