Jeffrey Rosen Talks With Peter Slen About Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ “The Common Law”
We the People
Judicial Approaches and Constitutionalism
The approach of conservative constitutionalists differs from a pragmatic approach as they emphasize strict construction of the text of the Constitution and the principles of checks and balances. Theodore Roosevelt and Mr. Holmes did not believe in strict construction of the Constitution's text and advocated for a more pragmatic approach. Roosevelt called for judicial decisions to be overturned by majority vote and viewed the president as a steward of the people. William Howard Taft, on the other hand, was a more constrained Hamiltonian president. Justices Kennedy and Souter had different approaches, indicating the diversity of judicial perspectives on constitutional interpretation.
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