Part II—Professor Shugerman (et al) vs. Professor Prakash (et al)

 

In my prior New Reform Club post, I wrote:

[Professor] Shugerman has taken the position that Prakash has seriously erred—i.e., that Prakash’s interpretations have been wrong all along, and that he (Shugerman) has demonstrated that wrongness, and that Prakash has refused to retract or to sufficiently respond. For this alleged wrong, Shugerman put forward:

If “originalism” is a serious academic enterprise, are there any consequences for originalist scholarship that repeatedly misused, misrepresented, or made false claims about the historical record?

…. Is there accountability for originalists who make false historical claims?

Jed Shugerman, The Misuse of Ratification-Era Documents by Unitary Executive Theorists, Mich. J. L. Reform (2025) (last revised on SSRN on Jan. 10, 2025) (manuscript at 25), <https://ssrn.com/abstract=5070241>; id. at 1 (same).

Now, a new version of Shugerman’s Michigan Journal of Legal Reform draft article has been posted on SSRN, with a January 21, 2025 date. In this version, on the very last page of his draft, Shugerman states:

 

*An earlier version of this essay asked an open-ended question: “If originalism is a serious academic enterprise, are there consequences for originalist scholarship that repeatedly misused, misrepresented, or made false claims about the historical record?” In listening to critics and feedback, I acknowledge it is premature to ask this question. [Shugerman, manuscript at page 24]

 

Who the critics were and what their feedback was is not stated.

 

As to Jed Handelsman Shugerman & Ors, Presidential Revisionism, Slate (July 17, 2017, 5:42 PM), <http://tinyurl.com/y7qaabr4>. I see no update to this publication at all. A cheeky person might ask:

If historical research is a serious academic enterprise … are there any consequences ….

But I am not so cheeky.

 

Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘Part II—Professor Shugerman (et al) vs. Professor Prakash (et al),’ New Reform Club (Jan. 21, 2025, 6:48 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2025/01/part-iiprofessor-shugerman-et-al-vs.html>;