On Liberty, Equality, and the Constitution: A Review of Richard A. Epstein’s The Classical Liberal Constitution
Professor Richard A. Epstein is the leading theorist and defender of classical liberal U.S. constitutionalism in modern times. For more than forty years, he has spoken out forcefully and persuasively in defense of classical liberal ideals in the context of U.S. constitutional law. Professor Epstein has had a profound influence on U.S. constitutional law, on all of those associated with the Federal Society, an even on those conservative justices on the Supreme Court, such as Justice Antonin Scalia, with whom he has occasionally sparred. Professor Epstein was the first major modern legal academic to write in support of reestablishing enumerated powers limits on the federal government; Professor Epstein’s 1987 Commerce Clause article was the keynoted address at a U.S. Department of Conference on “Reviving Economic Liberties and Federalism” presided over by then Attorney General Edwin Meese III; and Professor Epstein’s landmark book on Takings helped inspire an effort on the Supreme Court to reinvigorate the protection of property rights through the regulatory takings doctrine. Professor Epstein has had more of an influence on current Supreme Court caselaw than many other prominent legal academics including such celebrated figures as Judge Richard Posner, Professor Ronald Dworkin, and Professor Cass Sunstein. He is a legend in his own time.
