Cato Event Podcast

Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett has played an integral role in the rise of originalism—the movement to identify, restore, and defend the original meaning of the Constitution. But Barnett’s path to becoming an influential professor of constitutional law was not an easy one. Starting from a working-class childhood in Calumet City, Illinois, Barnett’s unusual resume has included stints as an ice cream truck driver, newspaper ad salesman, prosecutor, libertarian theorist, contract law professor, and Supreme Court advocate. In his new autobiography, A Life for Liberty, Barnett tells the complete story of his personal and professional journey.

Barnett’s life story is a model for how libertarians can put their ideas into practice and help change the world. As a young Harvard law student, Barnett had living room debates with Murray Rothbard and served on the board of a libertarian institution with Leonard Liggio and other notable thinkers. Barnett’s focus on individual rights prepared him for the turning point in his career, when he was the only person on a high-profile panel willing to argue that the Ninth Amendment protects “unenumerated rights” from government infringement.

After establishing himself as “Mr. Ninth Amendment,” Barnett eventually pivoted his career to constitutional law. His mission to restore “the lost Constitution” took him from the schoolhouse to the courthouse, where he argued the medical marijuana case Gonzales v. Raich in the Supreme Court—a case now taught to every law student. Later, he devised and spearheaded the constitutional challenge to Obamacare. Today, thanks in part to his efforts, a majority of sitting Supreme Court justices self-identify as originalists.

In this book forum, Professor Barnett will discuss his life story, the lessons he’s learned, and the ways in which his thinking continues to evolve. Professor Jonathan Turley of the George Washington University Law School will offer commentary on the book, drawing from his own perspective as a fellow legal academic.