SCOTUSblog on camera: Randy E. Barnett — Part four

“Activism” as an invented term that is in the eye of the beholder and fails to describe the Court’s duty, which is to engage and to say “no” to the political branches.

In this six-part interview, Randy E. Barnett of the Georgetown University Law Center discusses his background, interests, and his role in Supreme Court cases involving medical marijuana and the Affordable Care Act; originalism’s effect on the Court’s jurisprudence; and the meaning and relation of justice to politics, history, precedent, and the Court.

“I consider myself, first and foremost, a legal scholar. And, I’ve never really considered myself either a litigator or a legal advocate per se. I got drawn into litigation on the basis on my scholarship.”

(Fabrizio di Piazza)