Randy Barnett: Originalism, Obamacare, and the Libertarian Movement

Libertarian legal giant Randy Barnett on his epic Supreme Court battles, the Federalist Society, and watching movies with Murray Rothbard.

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Today's guest is libertarian legal giant Randy Barnett, who has just published his memoir, A Life for Liberty: The Making of an American Originalist. Currently teaching law at Georgetown, I talked with Randy about his days as a prosecutor in Chicago, how he helped create the legal philosophy of originalism, what it was like arguing medical marijuana and Obamacare cases at the Supreme Court, and what he learned from controversial anarcho-capitalist Murray Rothbard.

We also discuss why he thinks the libertarian movement needs an intellectual reboot and how his working-class, Jewish upbringing in Calumet City, Illinois, remains central to his identity.

This is a fun and rollicking conversation, especially if you’re into Supreme Court intrigue and the many ways in which the world has changed massively for the better since the 1970s. And not simply because the car he drove back then—a canary-yellow Ford Pinto—is no longer being made, though that’s certainly part of it.

Here’s a list of topics and time codes:

0:00— Introduction

1:05— Gonzales vs. Raich (marijuana legalization)

6:15— United States vs. Lopez (gun-free school zones)

20:11— What is Originalism?

25:40— How Barnett became an originalist

27:20— How the 9th Amendment kickstarted Barnett's Constitutional law career

32:30— Lysander Spooner, slavery & the Constitution

38:28— Ad: Bank On Yourself

40:10— Calumet City Contrarianism

47:54— Murray Rothbard

54:50— Libertinism vs. libertarianism

57:48— A libertarian lawyer who didn't inhale

58:48— NFIB vs. Sebelius (the 'Obamacare' case)

1:09:48— The Libertarian Movement's influence

1:16:55— Ideas & the Academy still matter!

Previous appearances:

• "How the Conservative Supreme Court Is Changing America," July 3, 2022

• "Randy Barnett on the Secret History of SCOTUS Confirmation Hearings," July 27, 2018

• "Everything You Need To Know About Neil Gorsuch (Including Roe v. Wade)," February 2, 2017

• "Democrats Abandoned the Rule of Law. Under President Trump, Will They Help Restore It?" November 9, 2016

• "Randy Barnett on Trump, the Supreme Court, and the Future of the Republican Party," August 15, 2016

• "Randy Barnett: How To Secure Our Liberty Through 'Our Republican Constitution,'" April 7, 2016

• "Randy Barnett: Secret NSA Snooping Is 'a Fundamental Challenge' to Democracy," August 19, 2013

• "Randy Barnett: Losing Obamacare While Preserving the Constitution," July 12, 2012

Lex Villena/Reason

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