Barnett, Kerr and Somin on Federalism and Constitutional Gestalt
Michael Ramsey
At Volokh Conspiracy, an exchange on the Supreme Court's commitment (or lack thereof) to federalism.
Randy Barnett: Who Won the Obamamcare Case (and Why Did So Many Law Porofessors Miss the Boat?)
Ilya Somin: Comstock, Bond, and Predictions About the Individual Mandate Case
Orin Kerr: Understanding the New Federalism and the Rehnquist Court: A Response to Randy
Randy Barnett: Ain't Prognosticatin'
The core question remains, I think , whether the Court is willing to take meaningful -- as opposed to symbolic -- steps toward a federalism revival. (Of course, the fact that the Court has been willing to take several symbolic steps is, as Professor Barnett says, itself a considerable shift in what he -- and Larry Solum -- call the "constitutional gestalt". When I was in law school, even the idea of symbolic steps was laughable.)
