Geoffrey Miller

September 12, 2017|Antonin Scalia, Byran Garner, Geoffrey Miller, Karl Llewelyn, Reading Law, the language of law

Scalia’s Reading Law Reflects the Rise of Formalism and the Language of Law

Mike Rappaport and I have defended the proposition that the Constitution is written in the language of the law. We recently noted in a post that much of modern originalist scholarship by academics relies on this language in interpreting provisions of the Constitution.

Another important indication of this legal turn in originalism is Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts by the late Antonin Scalia and Bryan Garner. There they suggest that interpretation of law must be guided by canons of interpretation and offer an analysis of fifty seven such rules. While some of these canons might be considered purely linguistic, many others are clearly legal such as the rule of lenity, the absurdity rule, and the rule that implied repeals are disfavored.

The renewed attention to legal interpretive rules also reflects the rise of legal formalism after its eclipse by legal realism.

August 3, 2017|Bob Natelson, Fourth Amendment, Gary Lawson, Geoffrey Miller, Language of Law, Laura Donohue, Michael Ramsey, Natural Born Citizens, Necessary and Proper Clause, original methods, Originalism

Originalist Scholarship Relying on the Language of the Law–Part II

by John O. McGinnis, Mike Rappaport|

In our last post, we provided some examples of recent scholarship that rely on the view, which we have defended, that the Constitution is written in the language of law. They are not consistent with the view that the Constitution is written in ordinary language. In this post we provide some other important examples.

Scholars have even shown the language that looks most ordinary is better understood as part of the language of the law. The Fourth Amendment provides: “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The word “unreasonable” is sometimes used as an example of a vague word in ordinary language that renders the meaning of a constitutional provision indeterminate. But Laura Donohue has argued that the word “unreasonable” should be instead read with the legal meaning of “against the reason of the common law.” As a result, the Fourth Amendment does not incorporate some free-floating reasonableness test, but a set of specific prohibitions of searches that violated the common law.

August 12, 2013|Geoffrey Miller, Obesity, PC

Tweeting into a PC Storm: Geoffrey Miller and Obesity

by Mike Rappaport|

Geoffrey Miller is a respected evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico. Miller made a mistake, but his big problem was that his mistake was very politically incorrect.

Miller tweeted: “Dear obese Ph.D. applicants: if you didn’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you won’t have the willpower to do a dissertation #truth.”

In my view, this tweet was clearly improper. My guess is that self control over eating may be different than the discipline to complete academic work. But in any event, it was not an appropriate thing to say to Ph.D applicants.

The question, though, is how bad of a thing this tweet was, and what sanction, if any, it required. In my view, it was appropriate for the university to ask Miller to apologize and to promise not to take obesity into account when making admission decisions. If he did not cooperate with these sanctions, then perhaps additional matters would be appropriate.

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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