Not directed to you as I do not recall you touting originalism. But for those that do, your mention of the LA purchase is perfect. Even TJ thought it was unconstitutional, but did it anyway. Our country, if governed by perfect original thinking, would be a shadow of what it now is.
Originalism is a funny concept to me. It’s as if Advances in technology don’t exist under that way of thinking. Or, somehow a contract/document written literally over 240 years or so ago should EXACTLY dictate how things operate today- even though it was written through the prism of 240 years ago. In a world where women didn’t have many rights and slavery was acceptable. And, was written VERY vaguely. Except for in a few key places.
Originalism doesn’t allow for any adaptations. I’m not saying that the courts should go change everything, but there should be some flexibility. The ideals are fine- but details should change a little to keep up with our current situation.
And I realize that the courts aren’t here to make the law- that’s for the legislature. But, if we didn’t have the courts take the lead on certain things (like segregation in schools), then we still might have those things.
And, I’ve seen judges like K and Gorsuch impose THIER viewpoints on things, rather than allowing some things promulgated by administrative bodies or elected officials to rule the day. They come from the Clarence Thomas school of thought, which essentially works like this. I would like to see a certain action to occur/preserve a certain worldview. So, I’m going to go out and try to find anything that I can hang my hat on to rule the way I want to rule. Even if it wasn’t the majority view at the time, and it’s speculation in most cases. And it arrogantly assumes that somehow they know the truth- even though the founding fathers were far from a monolithic group that all thought in the same patterns.
It’s akin to folks that literally take bible passages literally- even though the Bible itself was an amalgam of many different stories, many passed down verbally and finally committed to paper many, many generations later. And, the Bible itself was influenced by politics- there’s a LOT of gospels that were left out, because it doesn’t fit the person in charge’s political/power agenda. It was also translated many times, which introduced even further distortions into the original truth of a document like the Bible.
Re: K & Gorsuch (and other disciples of Thomas/the federalist society). I’m sure they would whole heartedly re-endorse a ruling like citizens untitled. Which reframed a debate about the exercise of raw $$$ influencing politics, and framed it instead as a question of free speech. Which, of course benefited their tribe tremendously. The vast majority of the really rich folks that can single handily have a huge influence on an election via their $$$ are Republicans. Sheldon A for example.
It’s like how Ted Cruz operates- it’s masquerading as purity and truth. But at the end of the day, it’s strictly political, and only cares about preserving the power of those like them. While they still have the power.
I believe that the constitution was deliberately written in a very vague way- that’s the only way they could get so many people with varying views to agree to sign the damn thing. And as such, it’s got to have some flexibility. And never forget that a sister document to the constitution was in many ways the Declaration of Independence. And I don’t have to remind you of the ideals that it pontificates about. Which, if justices like Thomas had their way, the courts would completely ignore ideals like those and impose their (somewhat arrogant) view of how things should be. Because that’s the way it’s always been. Or, somehow they’re omniscient, and they just know what the diverse group of founding fathers actually meant.
Which is complete BS, in my opinion. And leads to us being reactionary as a country, vs adapting along with our national changing realities.
As a side note, it kills me to see republican folks like McConnell absolutely dig in on making sure federalist society judges are in the bench- and then completely ignore someone (Trump) taking a sledgehammer to all of our traditional norms, values & institutions. If you’re a defender of the ways things have always been, be consistent damnit.