John O. McGinnis is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He also has an MA degree from Balliol College, Oxford, in philosophy and theology. Professor McGinnis clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From 1987 to 1991, he was deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. He is the author of Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Government Through Technology (Princeton 2013) and Originalism and the Good Constitution (Harvard 2013) (with M. Rappaport). He is a past winner of the Paul Bator award given by the Federalist Society to an outstanding academic under 40. He has been listed by the United States on the roster of panelists who may be called upon to decide World Trade Organization Disputes.
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Are Some Legal Positions Indefensible?
Milwaukee Lawyers Chapter
The Milwaukee Club706 North Jefferson Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Cocktails & Crypto
Chicago Lawyers Chapter & In-House Counsel Network
Foley & Lardner LLP321 N. Clark Street, 30th Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
Showcase Panel I: The Legal Profession and Constitutional Culture
2022 National Lawyers Convention
The Mayflower Hotel1127 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20006
Vaccine Mandates and The Administrative State: A Constitutional Debate
Duquesne Student Chapter
Duquesne University, School of Law928 Locust Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15282
Breakout Session B: Becoming an Academic
2022 National Student Symposium
University of Virginia School of Law580 Massie Rd
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Cocktails & Crypto
Chicago Lawyers Chapter & In-House Counsel Network
**Registration for this event is now closed. If you still wish to attend in-person, please...
Showcase Panel I: The Legal Profession and Constitutional Culture
2022 National Lawyers Convention
Lawyers and judges play an important role in a democratic republic like the United States. ...
Showcase Panel I: The Legal Profession and Constitutional Culture
2022 National Lawyers Convention
Lawyers and judges play an important role in a democratic republic like the United States. ...
I: Were the Founders Themselves Originalists? (Panel)
2022 National Student Symposium
Theories of originalism and living constitutionalism currently vie for approval in the courts. Originalists find...
I: Were the Founders Themselves Originalists? (Panel)
2022 National Student Symposium
Theories of originalism and living constitutionalism currently vie for approval in the courts. Originalists find...

Originalism and Determining Meaning
Originalism is a theory of Constitutional interpretation that places primacy on the meaning of the text of the Constitution - yet the question of...

Originalism: Historic and Philosophic Roots
This unit in the No. 86 video curriculum explores some key ideas that undergirded the writing of the Constitution: natural rights, separation of powers,...

Originalism and Precedent
Is precedent always opposed to Originalism? Are there certain cases or issues when precedent is helpful or imperative? Are there so many non-Originalist precedents that...