{"id":14067,"date":"2023-02-08T12:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T20:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogschapman.wpenginepowered.com\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T16:38:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T16:38:40","slug":"does-originalism-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Originalism Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday, Feb. 6, Professors Kurt Eggert and Lee J. Strang faced off in a robust yet collegial debate on the topic: Does Originalism Work? These two legal scholars easily filled the spacious venue in Kennedy Hall with an audience of students, faculty, and visitors keen to witness a scholarly arm-wrestle and expand their understanding of this topical issue.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utoledo.edu\/law\/faculty\/fulltime\/strang.html\">Professor Strang<\/a>, the John W. Stoepler Professor of Law and Values at the University of Toledo, Ohio is the author of the book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/originalisms-promise\/A5E97D3EB6CAAC72592D1A62E3691B1C\"><em>Originalism\u2019s Promise: <\/em><\/a><em>A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution<\/em>, and Fowler School of Law\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chapman.edu\/our-faculty\/kurt-eggert\">Professor Kurt Eggert<\/a>, is the author of the article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chapmanlawreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/24-3_Eggert.pdf\"><em>Originalism Isn\u2019t What It Used to Be<\/em><\/a>, recently published in the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chapmanlawreview.com\/\">Chapman Law Review<\/a>. <\/em>Their debate explored whether originalism is justified and whether it can function effectively or, whether it subverts the Constitution. Each scholar took turns tackling the topic of how originalism may change the scope and power of the administrative state, and whether the Supreme Court should prevent Congress from delegating rule-making power to federal agencies through the Nondelegation Doctrine and so rein in those agencies\u2019 power. The debate was moderated by noted legal scholar <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chapman.edu\/our-faculty\/thomas-j-campbell\">Dr. Tom Campbell<\/a>, a former dean of the Fowler School of Law. Watch the full debate video below:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Debate with Professors Kurt Eggert and Lee Strang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4618,"featured_media":14064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"custom_author_name":"","chapman_pin_hero_slider":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fowler School of Law | Chapman Blogs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Does Originalism Work? - Fowler School of Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Debate with Professors Kurt Eggert and Lee Strang\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fowler School of Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-08T20:00:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T16:38:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2023\/02\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"740\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"410\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deane Sutic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deane Sutic\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Deane Sutic\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bf07ac4e27d85758f337465e5628ab9\"},\"headline\":\"Does Originalism Work?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-08T20:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T16:38:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":216,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/71\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Faculty\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/\",\"name\":\"Does Originalism Work? - Fowler School of Law\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/71\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-08T20:00:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T16:38:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/71\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/71\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg\",\"width\":740,\"height\":410,\"caption\":\"Professor Lee J. Strang and Professor Kurt Eggert debate: Does Originalism Work? at Chapman University\\\\'s Fowler School of Law\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/2023\\\/02\\\/08\\\/does-originalism-work\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Does Originalism Work?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/\",\"name\":\"Fowler School of Law\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Fowler School of Law\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/71\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/MasterBrand_000-scaled-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/71\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/MasterBrand_000-scaled-1.png\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":435,\"caption\":\"Fowler School of Law\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bf07ac4e27d85758f337465e5628ab9\",\"name\":\"Deane Sutic\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fec37f20a5bbbef0f43e46c92e70c9c61e5d5f050379e558c100e154478838c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fec37f20a5bbbef0f43e46c92e70c9c61e5d5f050379e558c100e154478838c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fec37f20a5bbbef0f43e46c92e70c9c61e5d5f050379e558c100e154478838c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deane Sutic\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.chapman.edu\\\/law\\\/author\\\/sutic\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fowler School of Law | Chapman Blogs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Does Originalism Work? - Fowler School of Law","og_description":"A Debate with Professors Kurt Eggert and Lee Strang","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/","og_site_name":"Fowler School of Law","article_published_time":"2023-02-08T20:00:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-07T16:38:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":740,"height":410,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2023\/02\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Deane Sutic","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deane Sutic","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/"},"author":{"name":"Deane Sutic","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf07ac4e27d85758f337465e5628ab9"},"headline":"Does Originalism Work?","datePublished":"2023-02-08T20:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T16:38:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/"},"wordCount":216,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2023\/02\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg","articleSection":["Faculty"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/","name":"Does Originalism Work? - Fowler School of Law","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2023\/02\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-08T20:00:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-07T16:38:40+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2023\/02\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2023\/02\/Blog-Featured-Image.jpg","width":740,"height":410,"caption":"Professor Lee J. Strang and Professor Kurt Eggert debate: Does Originalism Work? at Chapman University\\'s Fowler School of Law"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/2023\/02\/08\/does-originalism-work\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does Originalism Work?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/","name":"Fowler School of Law","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#organization","name":"Fowler School of Law","url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2026\/03\/MasterBrand_000-scaled-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/71\/2026\/03\/MasterBrand_000-scaled-1.png","width":2560,"height":435,"caption":"Fowler School of Law"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/#\/schema\/person\/8bf07ac4e27d85758f337465e5628ab9","name":"Deane Sutic","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec37f20a5bbbef0f43e46c92e70c9c61e5d5f050379e558c100e154478838c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec37f20a5bbbef0f43e46c92e70c9c61e5d5f050379e558c100e154478838c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fec37f20a5bbbef0f43e46c92e70c9c61e5d5f050379e558c100e154478838c6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deane Sutic"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/author\/sutic\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4618"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.chapman.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}