“Gerrymandering is the result of a breakdown in the political process. And when you have breakdowns in political process, you can’t think the political processes are what’s going to solve the breakdown,” said Hosie. He says this idea applies to the larger dysfunction of the judicial branch.

At the moment, a handful of non-elected officials who cannot be fired have an amazing amount of power over the U.S. According to Hosie, this is not mandated by the Constitution. It’s also something “we can either accept or reject as citizens.”

“All those actions aren’t necessarily formally framed as acts of constitutional interpretation, but they functionally are,” said Hosie.

Originalism is a tool used to concentrate power, he says. It posits there is some understanding of the Constitution that is the most true. Hosie calls the Constitution “a law of law-making” that should be interpreted based on what the moment requires. Just like historical meaning, a multi-vocal approach is the only way to interpret the Constitution.

“The people are the ultimate deciders of constitutional meaning within our structured system of government, and whether that’s Congress, courts, or the executive, they’re subordinate to the citizens acting,” said Hosie.

It’s easy to forget that fact.

Hosie encouraged Americans to avoid preemptively accepting unlawful political power structures and undesired policy outcomes.  “There are always ways in which decisions can be mitigated and harms reduced,” he said.