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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Overruling Non-Originalist Precedent
Brigham Young Student Chapter
J. Reuben Clark Law School341 E Campus Dr
Provo, UT 84602
Academic Freedom: From Professional Norm to First Amendment Right
Northwestern Student Chapter
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law375 E Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
Panel II: The Legacy of the Founders: Originalism and the Constitution
2024 Third Circuit Chapters Conference
The Pyramid Club1735 Market St, 52nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Panel 2: Why the Constitution is Good
2024 Midwestern Chapters Conference
Union League Club65 W Jackson Blvd
Chicago, IL 60604
Does a New Critique of Originalism by a Historian Neglect the Constitution?
Over at Law & Liberty, Professors John O. McGinnis and Mike Rappaport review a new...
Illegitimate Attacks on the Court’s Legitimacy
This post originally appeared at Law & Liberty. Journalists and professors have formed a ululating...
Showcase Panel II: Whither Precedent?
2023 National Lawyers Convention
No one maintains that the Court has always and forever been originalist in its orientation....
Showcase Panel II: Whither Precedent?
2023 National Lawyers Convention
No one maintains that the Court has always and forever been originalist in its orientation....
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...

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...