Authors

Farah Peterson, University of Chicago Law School

The Fourteenth Amendment and the Vénus Noire

Abstract

This Essay makes two points. The first is that originalism is not a promising path for progressive causes. The second is that as the Constitution is amended, the meaning of the entire document is altered, and earlier text should be interpreted in light of what has changed. But instead of making these observations in the usual law review style, I’m calling on a figure out of nineteenth-century art, the Vénus Noire, to serve as our companion and guide.

This abstract has been taken from the author's introductory paragraphs.

Comments

This Essay first appeared as the 2024 Cutler Lecture at William & Mary Law School (February 6, 2024).

Repository Citation

Farah Peterson, The Fourteenth Amendment and the Vénus Noire, 66 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 191 (2024), https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol66/iss1/5

Publication Information

66 William & Mary Law Review 191-214 (2024)