Document Type
Essay
Abstract
This Essay argues that the answer to the troubling question of whether constitutional law on the Supreme Court level is truly "law," is yes. Or at least can be yes without any radical change to our modes of constitutional law reasoning by understanding how and why the Justices' write their opinions. It suggests that George Christie’s classic book, The Notion of an Ideal Audience in Legal Argument, provides part of the basis for affirming the law-ness of American constitutional law in two ways. First, using the lens of constitutional law provided by Christie’s formulation of the ideal audience concept, it shows that one source of division on and off the Supreme Court is that different Justices and commentators presuppose different ideal audiences. Second, Christie’s work points to a means of narrowing the ideological divisions in constitutional law, a workable means by which the Justices can address constitutional issues and the rest of us can evaluate their success, without falling into the pretense of claiming that constitutional law conclusions can be entirely insulated from the magnetic force of moral and political commitments..
Recommended Citation
H. Jefferson Powell, The Supreme Court's Ideal Audience, 18 ConLaw NOW 117 (2026)