The Varieties of Historical Argument

ACS and Vanderbilt University Law School present videos from the "Keeping Faith with the Constitution in Changing Times" Conference, co-sponsored by ACS and Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, October 6-7, 2006. This conference, an integral part of our Constitution in the 21st Century project and its Constitutional Interpretation and Change Issue Group, kicked off a major effort by ACS to affect the way lawyers, policymakers, advocates and students think and talk about the Constitution. This conference was a thought-provoking, highly substantive, and inspiring event, given the array of speakers that attended and the importance of topics that were addressed. The Conference featured seven panels over two days discussing issues such as the originalism debate; the roles of history, text and democratic legitimacy in constitutional interpretation; judicial perspectives on constitutional decision-making; and utilizing and communicating theories of constitutional interpretation in legal advocacy and to the public. A number of leading practitioners and academics addressed the conference.

The Varieties of Historical Argument featuring:

• Moderator, Deborah Hellman, Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law
• Peggy Cooper Davis, Frances Lewis Scholar in Residence, Washington and Lee University School of Law
• Robert W. Gordon, Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and Legal History, Yale Law School
• Richard Primus, Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
• Keith Whittington, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics, Princeton University