Contemporary constitutional law is dominated by rights talk and rights cases. In this Bradley Lecture, Michael S. Greve urges a return to constitutional structure as the Supreme Court's principal focus and responsibility. "Return," because the Supreme Court of the late nineteenth century--the purest "structure court" in American history--aggressively deployed constitutional doctrines designed to protect a competitive political process and economy. In the wake of the New Deal, however, all those doctrines were repudiated, producing a wholly unchecked and unstructured politics. The malignant features of today's legal landscape, from "hellhole" jurisdictions to state protectionism to government by (attorney general) indictment all result from the Court’s abandonment of its structural constitutional role. A recommitment to that role would compel a fundamental rethinking on all sides of the legal debate, including conservative originalists. Mr. Greve's talk explains the reasons for that urgent reorientation and describes its constitutional foundations and contours.

Michael S. Greve is the John G. Searle Scholar at AEI. His research and writings cover constitutional law and politics, the federal courts, and business regulation. He authors AEI's Constitutional Outlook series and is the head of the AEI Legal Center's Transatlantic Law Forum, a joint partnership with the Council on Public Policy in Germany. Prior to joining AEI, Mr. Greve cofounded and, from 1989 to 2000, directed the Center for Individual Rights, a public interest law firm that served as counsel in many precedent-setting constitutional cases, including United States v. Morrison (2000) and Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995). Mr. Greve has written extensively on many aspects of the American legal system. His books include The Demise of Environmentalism in American Law (AEI Press, 1996); Real Federalism: Why It Matters, How It Could Happen (AEI Press, 1999); Sell Globally, Tax Locally: Sales Tax Reform for the New Economy (AEI Press, 2003); and Harm-less Lawsuits? What's Wrong With Consumer Class Actions (AEI Press, 2005). Mr. Greve is the coeditor, with Fred L. Smith, of Environmental Politics: Public Costs, Private Rewards (Praeger, 1992) and, with Richard A. Epstein, of Competition Laws in Conflict: Antitrust Jurisdiction in the Global Economy (AEI Press, 2004) and Federal Preemption: States' Powers, National Interests (AEI Press, 2007).