Grading The Controversial Florida Seminar Paper
Earlier today I wrote about the New York Times expose concerning the grading of a student seminar paper at the University of Florida. I’ve now had a chance to read the paper.
First, from a technical perspective, the paper is very well done. The writing is easy to understand. The footnotes are expertly bluebooked. The sentences are bit too long for my taste, but many law professors like long sentences with many clauses. I don’t have the rubric, but I would imagine the student would receive full credit, or near-full-credit for these technical elements.
Second, the author also presents a fairly detailed analysis of modern originalist scholarship. He accurately describes the views of McGinnis and Rappaport, Randy Barnett, and Adrien Vermeule. The author brings in discussion of the Federalist Papers, records from the Constitutional Convention, and early congressional debates over slavery. Again, I don’t have the rubric, but I would imagine the student would receive full credit, or near-full-credit for the literature/background information section.
Third, I’ll turn to the substance. The basic argument is that under what the author describes as National Constitutionalism, the Constitution should be understood to protect the sovereignty of “the People.” And, following Verdugo-Urquidez and Heller, “the People” are Americans, and not aliens. But the author doesn’t stop there. Citing records from the early republic, he concludes that the founding generation sought to discourage immigration from non-White countries. He quotes Professors Gabriel Chin and Paul Fin
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