Podcast appearances and mentions of James E Fleming

James E. Fleming is The Honorable Paul J. Liacos Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law. He writes on constitutional law and constitutional theory and is the author or co-author of five books, including: Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2015), Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013), and American Constitutional Interpretation (4th ed., Foundation Press, 2008) (with Walter F. Murphy and Stephen Macedo of Princeton University and Sotirios A. Barber). Recorded March 9, 2021 Presented by the Constitutional Studies program at the University of Notre Dame.

Many have argued in recent years that the U.S. constitutional system exalts individual rights over responsibilities, virtues, and the common good. Answering the charges against liberal theories of rights, James Fleming and Linda McClain develop and defend a civic liberalism that takes responsibilities and virtues–as well as rights–seriously. In Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013), they provide an account of ordered liberty that protects basic liberties stringently, but not absolutely, and permits government to encourage responsibility and inculcate civic virtues without sacrificing personal autonomy to collective determination. The battle over same-sex marriage is one of many current controversies the authors use to defend their understanding of the relationship among rights, responsibilities, and virtues. Against accusations that same-sex marriage severs the rights of marriage from responsible sexuality, procreation, and parenthood, they argue that same-sex couples seek the same rights, responsibilities, and goods of civil marriage that opposite-sex couples pursue. Securing their right to marry respects individual autonomy while also promoting moral goods and virtues. Other issues to which they apply their idea of civic liberalism include reproductive freedom, the proper roles and regulation of civil society and the family, the education of children, and clashes between First Amendment freedoms (of association and religion) and antidiscrimination law. Articulating common ground between liberalism and its critics, Fleming and McClain develop an account of responsibilities and virtues that appreciates the value of diversity in our morally pluralistic constitutional democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many have argued in recent years that the U.S. constitutional system exalts individual rights over responsibilities, virtues, and the common good. Answering the charges against liberal theories of rights, James Fleming and Linda McClain develop and defend a civic liberalism that takes responsibilities and virtues–as well as rights–seriously. In Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013), they provide an account of ordered liberty that protects basic liberties stringently, but not absolutely, and permits government to encourage responsibility and inculcate civic virtues without sacrificing personal autonomy to collective determination. The battle over same-sex marriage is one of many current controversies the authors use to defend their understanding of the relationship among rights, responsibilities, and virtues. Against accusations that same-sex marriage severs the rights of marriage from responsible sexuality, procreation, and parenthood, they argue that same-sex couples seek the same rights, responsibilities, and goods of civil marriage that opposite-sex couples pursue. Securing their right to marry respects individual autonomy while also promoting moral goods and virtues. Other issues to which they apply their idea of civic liberalism include reproductive freedom, the proper roles and regulation of civil society and the family, the education of children, and clashes between First Amendment freedoms (of association and religion) and antidiscrimination law. Articulating common ground between liberalism and its critics, Fleming and McClain develop an account of responsibilities and virtues that appreciates the value of diversity in our morally pluralistic constitutional democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many have argued in recent years that the U.S. constitutional system exalts individual rights over responsibilities, virtues, and the common good. Answering the charges against liberal theories of rights, James Fleming and Linda McClain develop and defend a civic liberalism that takes responsibilities and virtues–as well as rights–seriously. In Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013), they provide an account of ordered liberty that protects basic liberties stringently, but not absolutely, and permits government to encourage responsibility and inculcate civic virtues without sacrificing personal autonomy to collective determination. The battle over same-sex marriage is one of many current controversies the authors use to defend their understanding of the relationship among rights, responsibilities, and virtues. Against accusations that same-sex marriage severs the rights of marriage from responsible sexuality, procreation, and parenthood, they argue that same-sex couples seek the same rights, responsibilities, and goods of civil marriage that opposite-sex couples pursue. Securing their right to marry respects individual autonomy while also promoting moral goods and virtues. Other issues to which they apply their idea of civic liberalism include reproductive freedom, the proper roles and regulation of civil society and the family, the education of children, and clashes between First Amendment freedoms (of association and religion) and antidiscrimination law. Articulating common ground between liberalism and its critics, Fleming and McClain develop an account of responsibilities and virtues that appreciates the value of diversity in our morally pluralistic constitutional democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many have argued in recent years that the U.S. constitutional system exalts individual rights over responsibilities, virtues, and the common good. Answering the charges against liberal theories of rights, James Fleming and Linda McClain develop and defend a civic liberalism that takes responsibilities and virtues–as well as rights–seriously. In Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013), they provide an account of ordered liberty that protects basic liberties stringently, but not absolutely, and permits government to encourage responsibility and inculcate civic virtues without sacrificing personal autonomy to collective determination. The battle over same-sex marriage is one of many current controversies the authors use to defend their understanding of the relationship among rights, responsibilities, and virtues. Against accusations that same-sex marriage severs the rights of marriage from responsible sexuality, procreation, and parenthood, they argue that same-sex couples seek the same rights, responsibilities, and goods of civil marriage that opposite-sex couples pursue. Securing their right to marry respects individual autonomy while also promoting moral goods and virtues. Other issues to which they apply their idea of civic liberalism include reproductive freedom, the proper roles and regulation of civil society and the family, the education of children, and clashes between First Amendment freedoms (of association and religion) and antidiscrimination law. Articulating common ground between liberalism and its critics, Fleming and McClain develop an account of responsibilities and virtues that appreciates the value of diversity in our morally pluralistic constitutional democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Roger S. Aaron '64 Lecture "The Myth of Strict Scrutiny for Fundamental Rights" James E. Fleming Professor of Law and The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law, Boston University School of Law Thursday October 31, 2013, 4:30 PM Room 003, Rockefeller Center The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences Co-sponsored with the Dartmouth Lawyers Association and the Dartmouth Legal Studies Faculty Group In constitutional law, it is commonplace to say that the Supreme Court applies "strict scrutiny" in protecting fundamental rights under the Due Process Clause -- almost automatically invalidating any statute restricting such rights. Professor Fleming will debunk this view as a myth propounded by Justice Scalia, an opponent of stringent protection for rights of privacy or autonomy, to make it harder to justify protecting such rights. Supporters of these rights have fallen for this myth and helped perpetuate it. Through careful examination of the cases protecting privacy and autonomy, Fleming will show that the Court has applied a more defensible framework: "reasoned judgment" in protecting "ordered liberty." James E. Fleming is Professor of Law, The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar in Law, and Associate Dean for Research and Intellectual Life at Boston University School of Law. He is author or co-author of Securing Constitutional Democracy: The Case of Autonomy (University of Chicago Press, 2006); Constitutional Interpretation: The Basic Questions (Oxford University Press, 2007) (with Sotirios A. Barber), and American Constitutional Interpretation (4th ed., Foundation Press, 2008) (with the late Walter F. Murphy, Barber, and Stephen Macedo). He has just published a new book, Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013), with his wife, Linda C. McClain (who is Professor of Law and Paul M. Siskind Research Scholar at Boston University School of Law). He is working on a book on constitutional interpretation, Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution (under contract with Oxford University Press). Finally, he is outgoing Editor of Nomos, the annual book of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, and incoming Vice President (for Law) of the Society.

In this edition of the Boston University School of Law podcast, host and media veteran, Dan Rea of WBZ-Radio 1030 welcomes an expert on constitutional law, theory and interpretation, Professor James E. Fleming to discuss his new book, Constitutional Interpretation: The Basic Questions. Dan & Professor Fleming will discuss constitutional interpretation, who is qualified to interpret the Constitution and partisan approaches to constitutional interpretation.