Originalism and Constitutional Property Rights Jurisprudence [2019 National Lawyers Convention]

On November 16, 2019, the Federalist Society's Environmental Law & Property Rights Practice Group hosted a panel for the 2019 National Lawyers Convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The panel discussed "Originalism and Constitutional Property Rights Jurisprudence".

Much controversy surrounds the extent to which the United States Constitution protects property rights. During the New Deal, most constitutional property rights came to hold the same low status as the liberty of contract recognized in Lochner v. New York and other economic rights recognized in substantive due process doctrines. Now, most lawyers and judges recognize that property rights are protected against federal intrusion (by the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause) and state intrusion (by the Fifth Amendment as incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause). Yet there are also vigorous debates about what these clauses mean and how far they sweep in protecting property rights. The 2005 decision Kelo v. City of New London reopened basic questions about what it means for a taking to be for public use. And in a concurrence in the 2017 regulatory takings case Murr v. Wisconsin, Justice Thomas opined that the Court had “never purported to ground [regulatory takings] precedents in the Constitution as it was originally understood” and called on lawyers and scholars to clarify whether regulatory takings doctrines are grounded in the Constitution’s original meaning. This session will showcase scholars on both sides of these debates: scholars who believe the Constitution does little to protect property from use- and value-destroying government actions, and scholars who believe that the Constitution does provide robust protection to property from such actions.

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As always, the Federalist Society takes no particular legal or public policy positions. All opinions expressed are those of the speakers.

Featuring:

-Moderator: Judge Lisa Branch, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit

-Prof. Eric R. Claeys, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University

-Prof. Richard Lazarus, Harvard Law School

-Prof. Thomas W. Merrill, Columbia Law School

-Prof. Ilya Somin, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University

Видео Originalism and Constitutional Property Rights Jurisprudence [2019 National Lawyers Convention] канала The Federalist Society