Douglas H. Ginsburg
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Douglas Howard Ginsburg (born May 25, 1946) is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals in October 1986 by President Reagan. He became Chief Judge of the court on July 16, 2001.
Ginsburg attended Cornell University in 1964-1965 and then from 1968 to 1970, when he received his degree. His undergraduate education was interrupted when he started a computer dating service business called Operation Match.[link] He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973 and became a law clerk for US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. From 1975 to 1983 he was a professor at Harvard Law School. From 1983 to 1986 he served in various positions within the Reagan administration. Since 1988 he has been an Adjunct Professor at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia.
In 1987, President Reagan announced his intention to nominate Ginsburg to the United States Supreme Court to replace Lewis F. Powell, who was retiring. Reagan had first nominated Robert Bork, but he was not confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Ginsburg's nomination was also troubled when it became known that he had used marijuana during the 1960s and 1970s. At the time, the War on Drugs and "Just Say No" anti-drug programs were at a peak, and Ginsburg's admission of past marijuana use was unacceptable to some, especially since he used it not only as a student but also as a Harvard Law School professor [link]. He withdrew his name, but remained on the Court of Appeals. Anthony Kennedy was then nominated and approved for the Supreme Court seat.
Ginsburg is perhaps best known in legal circles for his views on Constitutional interpretation, known by the shorthand "Constitution in Exile", taken from a phrase used in a book review Ginsburg penned in the journal Regulation. Roughly, Ginsburg's approach advocates reversing the expansions of federal power, particularly under the Interstate Commerce Clause, starting in the 1930s. Some argue that the use of the term "Constitution in Exile" is inappropriate as a generalization for Ginsburg's views, or its broader application to conservative, originalist, or textualist legal theorists.
Critics of Ginsburg's approach argue that such a philosophy would require overturning several decades of Supreme Court precedent, significantly undermining the doctrine of stare decisis. Defenders of the view argue that such a move would merely reverse decades of accumulated judicial activism. Other proponents also point out that implementing Ginsburg's vision could be done gradually, rather than suddenly.
Douglas Ginsburg is of no relation to current Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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