September 17, 2025 Introducing the Third Edition of “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution”
Join us for the launch of the third edition of “The Heritage Guide to the Constitution” with a selection of the distinguished scholars and practitioners who contributed to its creation.
Click here to register virtually.
In-person attendance by invitation only. Contact Heritage Events to be considered for an invitation.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
9:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m.
Online
Agenda
Panel I | Originalism in Theory and Practice: Insights from the Legal Academy
- Charles J. Cooper, JD, Founding Member and Chairman, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC
- Kurt Lash, JD, E. Claiborne Robins Distinguished Chair in Law, University of Richmond School of Law
- Randy E. Barnett, JD, Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law, Georgetown University Law Center and Faculty Director, Georgetown Center for the Constitution
- Josh Blackman, JD, Senior Editor, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution and Centennial Chair of Constitutional Law, South Texas College of Law Houston (moderator)
Panel II | The Originalist Turn: A Judicial Perspective
- The Honorable William H. Pryor Jr., Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- The Honorable David R. Stras, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- The Honorable Elizabeth L. Branch, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- John G. Malcolm, Executive Editor, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution and Vice President, Institute for Constitutional Government, The Heritage Foundation (moderator)
Description
Over the past two decades, the federal judiciary has increasingly grounded its cases in the Constitution’s original meaning. Students, scholars, lawyers, and judges are now expected to understand and apply the text, history, and tradition of the Constitution. The Third Edition of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution will provide a comprehensive starting point to research issues from before, during, and after the Constitution’s adoption. It equips all Americans with an authoritative and accessible introduction to our foundational charter.
Each of these 216 essays, written by over 150 distinguished jurists, scholars, and practitioners, was carefully reviewed to ensure they are of the highest quality and accuracy. This once-a-decade publication strives to be the definitive compendium of each of the provisions of the Constitution.
Join us for this two-panel launch event that includes authors from the both the judiciary and legal academia.
“The time is now right for a third edition of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The project continues under the leadership of Josh Blackman and John Malcolm. They are building on the proud legacy of the prior editions. I am confident that this volume will serve a new generation of lawyers, professors, students, and ordinary citizens who are deeply committed to the jurisprudence of originalism I spoke about four decades ago.”
— The Honorable Edwin Meese III, Seventy-Fifth Attorney General of the United States
“‘We the people’ adopted the Constitution, and it is important that all Americans understand what our founding document means. Since the publication of the first edition twenty years ago, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution has been an invaluable resource for judges, lawyers, and the public at large. It marries scholarly depth and sophistication with prose that is readily accessible. The new third edition of the Guide retains the virtues of its predecessors while deepening the discussion of how constitutional provisions were understood when they were adopted. . . . Today, no savvy attorney would disregard original meaning in briefing or arguing an unsettled constitutional question in federal court. For attorneys involved in such cases—and for all other Americans who want to understand what our Constitution means—the new edition of The Heritage Guide is a great place to start.”
— Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., U.S. Supreme Court