Ideological Judging: The Record of Textualism

Abstract

Discusses the ideological record of textualist judges, empirical studies, textualist mantras, the habitual and misguided resort to dictionaries, and the refusal to acknowledge that textualism is as pliable as any other theory of interpretation and it has produced a one-sided record in cases that shape the law.

Note: Reprinted with permission from the August 2018 edition of The National Law Journal.

Keywords: judges, interpretation, textualism, ideology, results-oriented, activism, empirical studies, dictionaries

JEL Classification: K10, K40