The Balkin Way: Originalism, History, Memory, and Tradition in Constitutional Interpretation
Professor Jack Balkin's new book , "Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation," continues the author's longstanding efforts to merge living constitutionalism and originalism into a workable and normatively attractive theory of constitutional interpretation. In this book, Balkin supports his concept of "living or framework originalism" with a deep dive into how history, memory, and tradition should and should not be used by judges and other political actors interpreting our very old Constitution. As I've written here before, Balkin's overaching theory, similar to Justice Kagan's, is that when the text is clear and specific, e.g., the President has to be at least 35, constitutional intepreters must follow that command, but where the text is abstract and general, then interpreters must search for the principles underlying the text and apply them to changing circumstances. Balkin's new book is mostly devoted to