On Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. in Foundation Hall's Manzulli Boardroom, Wagner College will hold its inaugural Founding Fathers Distinguished Lecture, “From Bork to Gorsuch: How Originalism Was Mainstreamed.”
The speaker will be Randy E. Barnett, the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts and is director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. His latest book is “Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People” (2016).
All are invited, and the program is free, but due to limited seating we encourage those interested in attending to RSVP on our website.
If you have questions or special needs, please contact Betty McComiskey at 718-420- 4014 or specialevents@wagner.edu.
In October 1987, after lengthy and contentious hearings, Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork was defeated by a vote of 58 to 42. Six Republicans joined 52 Democrats in opposing Bork’s nomination. A major objection was Bork’s commitment to “originalism” as a method of constitutional interpretation.
Thirty years later, President Trump nominated self-professed originalist judge Neil Gorsuch to the court. Gorsuch was confirmed by a vote of 54 to 45, with two Democrats joining all 52 Republicans.
Professor Randy Barnett will explain what has changed to lead to these different outcomes, and what these changes bode for the future of the Supreme Court and the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers Distinguished Lecture Series will feature speakers on topics such as limited government, family values, national defense and the free-market economy.