Though we live in an age of moral and technological innovation, we are not very creative at problem-making. On the surface, our practical problems may look different from those confronted by Americans one hundred or three hundred years ago. But they are essentially the same. Our common law is the repository of centuries’ worth of solutions to recurring practical problems. It is full of norms and institutions that we can use to solve our most pressing problems today.

From the Inaugural Conference of the Hale Institute at New Saint Andrews College entitled, The Common Law Constitution of the American Republic.