Is the Declaration Our Law?

During her confirmation hearing, Amy Coney Barrett said the Declaration of Independence expresses American ideals but is not law, echoing claims by Antonin Scalia in his dissent in Troxel v. Granville. This lecture challenges the assumption that only judicially enforceable rules count as law. Instead, it argues the Declaration is foundational law: an authoritative act establishing the purposes and limits of government, including the protection of natural rights. Though not a freestanding code of enforceable rights, it informs constitutional interpretation and construction—especially alongside the United States Constitution—by articulating the principles of legitimate government that underlie the American constitutional order.