Democratizing Constitutional Memory

Authors

Reva B. Siegel, Yale University

Abstract

The Court regularly makes claims on the past—claims that have grown in prominence since conservatives on the Roberts Court invoked “history and tradition” to overrule longstanding case law on religious free exercise, the right to bear arms, and the right to abortion in its 2021 term and to threaten other rights since. The Court claims its historically based approach constrains judges by focusing interpretation on objective and impersonal facts in the past.

Recommended Citation

Reva B. Siegel, Democratizing Constitutional Memory, 123 Mich. L. Rev. 1011 (2025).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol123/iss6/2