Originalism: A Matter of Interpretation

We the People

National Constitution Center

News, News Commentary, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 September 2022

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

September 17 is Constitution Day in the United States, celebrating the day that members of the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia in 1787. As a part of the National Constitution Center’s 2022 celebrations, we hosted a panel live at the NCC in Philadelphia called “Originalism: A Matter of Interpretation.” Emily Bazelon of The New York Times Magazine, Rich Lowry of the National Review, Steven Mazie of The Economist, and Ilan Wurman of Arizona State University joined host Jeffrey Rosen to discuss whether the Constitution should be interpreted according to its original meaning, and if the Supreme Court is consistent in applying principles of originalism in its decisions. Questions or comments about the show? Email us at podcast@constitutioncenter.org. Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr. Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.
0:12.0	The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan non-profit chartered by Congress to increase
0:17.0	awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.
0:21.6	Saturday, September 17th is Constitution Day.
0:24.6	Happy Constitution Day, dear We The People listeners.
0:27.2	This is the day that members of the Constitutional Convention sign the Constitution
0:31.8	here in Philadelphia in 1787. I'm here at the National
0:36.4	Constitution Center at 525 Arch Street in Philadelphia. 525 is the day the Constitutional Convention started.
0:45.1	September 17th is when it ended. And as part of our Constitution Day week,
0:51.3	we hosted a great panel called Originalism, a matter of
0:54.3	interpretation, and I'm thrilled to share that conversation with you, dear we
0:58.7	the people, listeners today. Our panelists were Emily Baselon of the New York Times magazine, Rich Lowry of the National Review, Stephen Maisie of the Economist, and Elon Worman of Arizona State University. Enjoy the conversation.
1:15.0	Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the National Constitution Center and happy Constitution Day. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president of this wonderful institution.
1:28.8	What a joy to welcome you back to our first in-person convening for a long time and let's
1:35.8	begin by inspiring ourselves with the National Constitution Center's
1:39.3	mission statement. You can still do it by heart. It's been about two years since we've all been together in Kirby. Here we go.
1:46.1	The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America, chartered by Congress to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people on a non-partisan basis.
1:59.0	Beautiful, you can still do it as well as always, and it's so great to be back together friends.
2:05.0	It's been a wonderful Constitution day.
2:07.3	We started with an inspiring naturalization ceremony.
2:11.0	We had a superb panel with Third circuit judges on the methodologies of
2:14.9	constitutional interpretation for middle school students who are sitting there
	...

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