Justice Alito Teaches the War Powers Clause

While we are on the subject of Michael Ramsey’s book, I thought I would note that Justice Samuel Alito is currently teaching at Pepperdine Law School a two-week seminar from July 30 to August 10 on the War Powers Clause. The public announcement about the course is available here. According to the announcement, “Justice Alito indicated that the question of war and peace is fraught with difficulty, and it was not his intention to state a definitive view. Instead, he encouraged the students to remain open to competing considerations. Professor Kmiec noted, ‘In the first three days of class, Justice Alito had the students contemplate the words of the constitutional text, how they might have drafted the text differently, and the debates in the constitutional convention and ratifying states. The discussion was lively and masterfully prompted by the justice’s preparation.'”

I will try to attend a few classes and will give you my impressions of the course after its completion.