The Roundtable
Welcome to the Roundtable, JLPP’s online blog featuring student commentary on current cases and legal developments!
If you are interested in becoming a Staff Writer or Contributing Writer for the Roundtable, e-mail Notes Editors Kyle Reynolds (mreynolds@jd18.law.harvard.edu) or Chadwick Harper (charper@jd19.law.harvard.edu).
Justice Alito: A Justice of Foxes and Hedgehogs – Hon. Amul Thapar
Download PDF Justice Alito: A Justice of Foxes and Hedgehogs Hon. Amul Thapar* The great Oxford philosopher Isaiah Berlin once proposed that all great writers fall into one of two camps. Some are hedgehogs; some are foxes.[1] Hedgehogs “relate everything to a single central vision.”[2] Foxes, on the other hand, reject grand theories. They “pursue many ends, often unrelated and even contradictory.”[3] While hedgehogs tend to see the world in black-and-white, foxes see it in shades of gray. Although Berlin later downplayed this essay, I suspect...
read moreJustice Alito on Criminal Procedure – Hon. Andrew S. Oldham
Download PDF Justice Alito on Criminal Procedure Hon. Andrew S. Oldham[*] Justice Alito’s criminal procedure jurisprudence reflects a commitment to administrable “rules” instead of fuzzy, hard-to-apply “standards.”[2] Criminal procedure rules allow the relevant actors to understand the law and conform their actions to it. Rules are also easier for inferior-court judges to apply. Standards, in contrast, often obscure rather than answer the hardest questions. They can leave police, prosecutors, citizens, and judges with little idea of...
read moreJustice Alito on Criminal Law – Kate Stith
Download PDF Justice Alito on Criminal Law Kate Stith* I. Introduction Justice Samuel A. Alito is a natural judge—by temperament, character, disposition, and experience. What do I mean by a “natural judge”? It is difficult to conceive of Justice Alito accepting a legal position where he would have to perform as a pure advocate, which he knows may require mincing words, shading nuance, and hiding the ball. Indeed, Alito’s entire career as a lawyer—both within the U.S. Department of Justice and in the federal judiciary—has been...
read moreErie and Contemporary Federal Courts Doctrine – Jack Goldsmith
Download PDF Erie and Contemporary Federal Courts Doctrine Jack Goldsmith* Justice Alito has written many important federal courts opinions but (like most Justices) does not have a distinctive federal courts jurisprudence. He has written most extensively in this field on standing, but his opinions on that topic do not yield a particular theory of standing or even a clear pattern of decision making.[1] His dissent in Ortiz is a commanding statement of the differences between judicial and executive power in the context of the Court’s appellate...
read moreThe Prudent Judge – Hon. Steven Menashi
Download PDF The Prudent Judge Hon. Steven Menashi* When I was a law clerk to Justice Alito in 2010, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.[1] The case concerned whether California could permissibly restrict the sale of violent video games to minors. Justice Scalia suggested the case was easy. “[I]t was always understood that the freedom of speech did not include obscenity,” he told California’s lawyer, but “[i]t has never been understood that the freedom of speech did not include portrayals of...
read moreJudge Alito’s First Amendment Vigilance on the Third Circuit – Hon. Stephanos Bibas
Download PDF Judge Alito’s First Amendment Vigilance on the Third Circuit Hon. Stephanos Bibas* Seventeen years ago, Justice Alito ascended to the Supreme Court. His tenure there has just surpassed the fifteen-plus years that he served on the court where I sit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. When I interviewed them for this chapter, my colleagues who served with him all remembered him fondly as “well respected and well liked.” He got along with everyone, embodying the Third Circuit’s strong tradition of collegiality. And he...
read moreThe Contextual Textualism of Justice Alito – John O. McGinnis
Download PDF The Contextual Textualism of Justice Alito John O. McGinnis* Introduction Justice Samuel Alito is one of the best craftsmen of statutory interpretation opinions on the Court. The Chief Justice certainly thinks so: the Chief has often assigned him the majority opinion in statutory cases when the Court is closely divided. His analyses of legislation are particularly comprehensive and clear. Like most judges, he has not offered a theoretical defense of a particular approach, content to let his opinions speak for themselves....
read moreThe Originalist Jurisprudence of Justice Samuel Alito – J. Joel Alicea
Download PDF The Originalist Jurisprudence of Justice Samuel Alito J. Joel Alicea* Since Justice Alito’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 2006, constitutional theorists have struggled with how to characterize his approach Since Justice Alito’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 2006, constitutional theorists have struggled with how to characterize his approach to constitutional adjudication. Many scholars have argued that “Justice Alito is not to any significant extent an originalist” but is, instead, “a methodological pluralist” who uses...
read moreIntroduction: The Jurisprudence of Justice Samuel Alito – Robert P. George
Download PDF Introduction: The Jurisprudence of Justice Samuel Alito Robert P. George* Introduction Samuel A. Alito, Jr. was sworn into office as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on January 31, 2006. As we can say with the benefit of hindsight, that proved to be one of the most pivotal moments in the Supreme Court’s modern history, with deep and lasting effects on our constitutional law and culture, as well as on the nation as a whole. Justice Alito filled the seat vacated by Sandra Day O’Connor. Over the course...
read moreCameras in the High Court: An Empirical Examination of Support for Supreme Court Justices – Black, Owens, Johnson, and Wedeking
Download PDF Cameras in the High Court: An Empirical Examination of Support for Supreme Court Justices Ryan C. Black,* Ryan J. Owens,† Timothy R. Johnson,‡ and Justin Wedeking§ On March 16, 2023, Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced legislation that would require the United States Supreme Court to allow cameras in its Courtroom.[1] The bill instantly made news. It provided a rare splash of bipartisan color in an otherwise black and white polarized Washington, D.C. That the bill also might trigger a direct...
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