Source: Law & Liberty
by James R Rogers
“Whether anachronistic or not, why might we care what anyone opined about textualism over 750 years ago? As an initial matter, due to Aquinas’s continued visibility, commentators and scholars arguing about textualism often invoke Aquinas to support their views. Former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer cites Aquinas in his recent book for the claim that judges have asked ‘purpose-oriented questions’ when interpreting laws ‘for hundreds if not thousands of years.’ So, too, Harvard Law Professor Adrian Vermeule invokes Aquinas in his book Common Good Constitutionalism, distinguishing a classical version of textualism, which he identifies with Aquinas, from what he styles as the modern textualism of Justice Scalia and textualist justices currently on the Supreme Court.” (08/21/25)