Reading Group

What is liberty?  Why is it valuable, and what are its proper bounds?  What roles does law play in protecting, defining, and perhaps threatening liberty?  If protecting liberty is a key goal of the rule of law, is it the only one?  What other values and goals need to be balanced against the claims of liberty, and how should we go about doing so?

The Liberty & Law Reading Group provides an opportunity for faculty and students to come together in an informal setting to engage critically with texts that seek to illuminate these foundational questions.  Each term we will choose some set of readings that addresses core issues regarding the relationship between liberty and law, and meet on a biweekly basis to discuss them.  While we need to keep the size of the group during any given term limited to a number that is conducive to meaningful conversation, we welcome and encourage anyone in the law school community with an interest in these topics to join in, whatever your perspective may be.  The purpose of this conversation is to grapple with difficult questions, not to propagate any pre-determined answers.

Reading List:
~ Fall 2022 – : Open Borders by Bryan Caplan
~ Fall 2021 – Spring 2022: Critical Race Theory and its Critics 
~ Fall 2020 – Spring 2021: The Classical Liberal Constitution by Richard Epstein (first half)
~ Spring 2020: The Limits of Liberty by James M. Buchanan
~ Fall 2019: The Structure of Liberty by Randy Barnett
~ Fall 2018 – Spring 2019: Law, Legislation and Liberty by Fredrich Hayek

If you have any questions, please email liberty@gmu.edu.