The conservative legal movement is in the midst of a great debate about its future. For decades, originalism — the idea that the original meaning of the Constitution is binding on today’s interpreters — has been and remains the movement’s default theory. But that idea’s meaning is now in flux as new theories challenge longstanding beliefs about its core philosophical beliefs. In this episode, Devorah and Daniel talk to Joel Alicia about originalism’s varying interpretations and its future in the conservative legal movement.

Joel Alicea is an attorney at Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, in Washington, D.C. This episode is inspired by Joel’s essay from the Spring 2015 issue of National Affairs, “Originalism and the Rule of the Dead.”