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53 Willamette L. Rev. 295 (2016-2017)
Our Implied Constitution

handle is hein.journals/willr53 and id is 315 raw text is: 









                 OUR   IMPLIED CONSTITUTION

                        RICHARD   A. EPSTEIN

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION         ...................................... ...... 295
      A.   Constitutions, statutes and contracts .....       ......... 295
      B.   Three Little Words:  oiginal public meanig................. 300
II. THE IMPLIED  CONSTITUTION      ........................ .........307
       A.  The Police Power:  Preventing Harm   to Others .............. 310
       B.  Unconstitutional Conditions: Distribution ofPublic
           Benefits. The General  Approach    .................... 319
       C   Diversity jurisdiction    ...................    ...... 321
       D.  Federal Regulation  oflnterstate Commerce...................324
       E   Intergo vernm ental 1mn unities .................. 327
       F   Other areas for iplication     ................     ..... 329
III.CONCLUSION                        .............................................. 333



                             I. INTRODUCTION

     A.  Constitutions, statutes and contracts
     I should first like to thank Ken and Claudia  Peterson, who  have
endowed this lecture, and the faculty of Willamette University
College  of  Law,  who   over the  last two  days have   proved  to be
attentive and  gracious  hosts.   The   topic tonight  is our  implied
Constitution.  To  many   this title seems to be a  nonstarter, for the
notion  of an implied Constitution  appears to be  in manifest tension
with  the common textualist   claims  advanced   by many   judges  and

    * Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, The New York University School of Law; the
Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institutions; the James Parker Hall
Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, and Senior Lecturer, The University of Chicago.
My thanks to Momo Liu, New York University School of Law, Class of 2017, and Jonathan
Povilonis, New York University School of Law, Class of 2018, for their valuable research
assistance on an earlier draft of this article, which is a much-expanded version of the Peterson
lecture delivered at Willamette University College of Law on January 24, 2017.


295

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