Today in Supreme Court History: September 27, 1787

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Blackman, J. (2026, September 27). Today in Supreme Court History: September 27, 1787. Reason. https://reason.com/volokh/2026/09/27/today-in-supreme-court-history-september-27-1787-6/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Reason · collected 2026-09-27 · by Josh Blackman

Quick Summary

On September 27, 1787, the first anti-federalist letter written under the pseudonym "Cato" was published. The Volokh Conspiracy is an independent blog that often covers legal and political topics from a contrarian or libertarian perspective. This article marks historical significance in Supreme Court history by noting this publication, which opposed the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
Written by AI on 2026-09-27, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 27, 1787, the first of several anonymously authored anti-Federalist letters under the pseudonym "Cato" was published. These letters were written in opposition to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution by those who feared a strong central government would infringe on individual liberties and state rights. The publication marked an important moment in American political history as it represented one of the earliest public criticisms of the newly proposed federal system, advocating instead for a greater emphasis on states' autonomy and personal freedoms.

Written for “Supreme Court History” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Supreme Court History
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted
1
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 1 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
Reason's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Who wrote this

Josh Blackman
89 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 89 articles by Josh Blackman →

Topics

Cato Reason

Subjects

Cato ORG · 1× Reason ORG · 1×

Narrative

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent 9/27/1787: First Anti-Federalist letter by "Cato" is published.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-27
2026-09-27 · Reason
Today in Supreme Court History: September 27, 1787 · assertive framing

Claims (1 extracted, 0 hedged)

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent 9/27/1787: First Anti-Federalist letter by "Cato" is published. asserted
letter → publish → Cato
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