Neil Gorsuch on Originalism

Neil Gorsuch is a self-identified originalist who views the Constitution’s original meaning as fixed, asserting that this approach is the best method for interpretation, even as new applications and technologies arise. He argues that deciphering the original understanding of old texts, like the Constitution, is comparable to interpreting literature such as Shakespeare, and he rejects the living constitutionalist complaint that the document is too cryptic. For Gorsuch, originalism is a conservative theory in the small 'c' sense, focused on conserving the meaning as written, not adopting contemporary political substance, and he suggests that past judicial errors stemmed from judges abandoning this originalist methodology for personal impulses.

His commitment extends to emphasizing that this method is essential for preserving liberty by reinforcing the separation of powers and preventing unelected judges from imposing their policy preferences. He suggests that indeterminacy in legal analysis is often overstated and that traditional tools effectively resolve most issues, allowing a judge to make a best judgment even if by a slim margin. He has been described as a public meaning originalist, focusing on what a reasonable reader at the time would have understood the law to be, rooting this in the separation of legislative and judicial power.