Despite living so close, and despite our constitution (not only the main documents, but also the Supreme Court’s constitutional jurisprudence) being substantially influenced (including a negative influence ― attempts not to repeat perceived mistakes) by the American experience, Canadians tend not to know, or not to understand, American constitutional law and theory as well as we sometimes think. Two of the most puzzling, misunderstood, and caricatured elements of that law and theory are originalism and the constitutionally protected right to bear arms. In Canadian legal discourse, both tend to be peremptorily dismissed not only as utterly alien to our constitutional tradition, but also as dangerous, and ― sotto voce anyway ― rather stupid.
Yet peremptory dismissals of ideas, especially ideas in which many intelligent people actually believe, are usually unwise. We don’t need to agree with them, but if we disagree, we should at least try to ensure that our disagreement is somewhat informed. So, if you have a few of hours to spend on learning more about these strange American ideas, here are a couple of links:
About the right to bear arms, an Intelligence Squared debate involving professors Sandy Levinson and Alan Dershowitz (arguing that it has outlived its usefulness), and David Kopel and Eugene Volokh (arguing that it has not).
And about originalism, a discussion between professors Randy Barnett, Mitchell Berman, John McGinnis, and Richard Primus.
Enjoy!
Double Aspect 