Madiba K. Dennie

madiba.dennie@gmail.com @AudreLawdAMercy
Madiba K. Dennie is an attorney, columnist, and professor whose work focuses on fostering an equitable multiracial democracy. Her debut book, The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back, is now available wherever books are sold. Dennie is the Deputy Editor and Senior Contributor at the critical legal commentary outlet Balls and Strikes. In her previous role as a counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, she provided legal and policy analysis regarding a range of democracy issues including the census, the courts, and attempts to disempower communities of color. Her legal and political commentary has been featured in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and more. Dennie has been interviewed on-air about race, gender, and the law on outlets including the BBC and MSNBC. She has taught at Western Washington University and NYU School of Law. She earned her law degree from Columbia Law School and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University, where she concentrated in Politics and earned a certificate in African-American Studies. Her hot takes are not legal advice.

The Originalism Trap

The notion that the Constitution’s meaning is fixed in time and must be interpreted today the same way the public would have understood it when it was originally written was once confined to the fringes of academia. But now that idea—originalism—has been embraced by a Supreme Court stacked with reactionaries hellbent on turning back the clock on civil rights. Madiba K. Dennie’s debut book, The Originalism Trap: How Extremists Stole the Constitution and How We the People Can Take It Back, ditches the so-called “originalist” model of constitutional interpretation and the rights rollback that comes with it for something new and improved that works for all of us. Seamlessly blending scholarship with sass, Dennie’s book is for law-people and laypeople alike. Rigorous yet readable, fierce and fun, this book will galvanize readers to reclaim the Constitution from an extremist Supreme Court and strive towards the ideals of democracy. The Originalism Trap is more than a takedown. It’s a rallying cry.

Now available everywhere!

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