Constitutionalist court watchers, judges, and scholars are now engaged in an intense debate over how to apply originalism and textualism in practice. The work of late legal scholar Alexander Bickel points toward a tradition-based originalism that could offer a path through that debate. His approach calls on our shared national memory to help us achieve what the conservative judicial critique sought in the first place. Guest Will Haun joins us to outline this view of originalism and its relevance to current legal disputes before the Supreme Court, including the contentious abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Will Haun is senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and a non-resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

This podcast discusses themes from Will’s essay in the Spring 2022 issue of National Affairs, “Tradition-based Originalism and the Supreme Court.”