How did the English Common Law map onto the American Constitutional system?

Professor Kurt Lash discusses the debate among the Founders about whether and how the Common Law would still have force and effect in America. The Common Law presupposed the sovereignty of Parliament, but the American system was based on popular sovereignty. Professor Lash explains the Alien and Sedition Acts as an example of how this struggle played out in the early days of the constitutional republic.

Professor Kurt T. Lash holds the E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law at the University of Richmond School of Law. He is the Founder and Director of the Richmond Program on the American Constitution.

As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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   • Constitutional Law [Course] [No. 86]