Madiba K. Dennie, author of "The Originalism Trap" in conversation with Elizabeth Hira.

About the Book: 

A rallying cry for a more just approach to the law that bolsters social justice movements by throwing out originalism—the theory that judges should interpret the Constitution exactly as conservatives say the Founders meant it. 

Lawyers don’t often admit this in mixed company, but Madiba Dennie wants to let you in on a secret: There is no one true way to interpret the Constitution. Americans saw just how subjective it can be when the Supreme Court denied basic bodily autonomy to millions of people in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, suggesting that our rights and liberties are frozen in a cherry-picked version of history. This is a line of constitutional interpretation called originalism--a framework that says we must be constrained by the meaning of the Constitution's text when it was written. It has a reputation as a serious intellectual theory, but as Dennie argues…