Honors Theses
Date of Award
Spring 5-8-2026
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Miles Armaly
Second Advisor
Andrew Stone
Third Advisor
Justin Moody
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This thesis will investigate the influence of the Federalist Society on the use of originalism in Supreme Court opinions. To investigate this influence, justices that served on the Supreme Court from 1994 to 2022 are categorized based on whether or not they are affiliated with the Federalist Society. Then using artificial intelligence (ChatGPT version 5.3), ten Supreme Court opinions known to be originalist are used as a baseline for artificial intelligence to know what an originalist opinion looks like. Then, all majority opinions of the Supreme Court from that timeframe are scored from 1-10, with 10 meaning an opinion is completely originalist and 1 meaning it is not originalist at all. Then, statistical analyses are performed and show that Federalist Society affiliation for a justice means they produce more originalism content in their opinions compared to justices who are not affiliated. These results demonstrate that the Federalist Society has uniquely contributed to a proliferation of originalist content and thought in the Supreme Court, more so than ideology. This is concerning since it means that an outside actor is able to influence judicial reasoning, which is antithetical to the United States judicial system which intends for the judiciary to be an independent body. Additionally, even proponents of originalism admit that it is difficult to correctly utilize, further raising concerns about its use in judicial opinions and the Federalist Society’s influence.
Recommended Citation
Santopuoli, Edoardo, "The Influence of the Federalist Society on Originalism in Supreme Court Opinions" (2026). Honors Theses. 3590.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/3590
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