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Research paper topic: Checks And Balances - 1079 words

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Checks And Balances Constitutional Interpretation The problem of interpreting the Constitution and framer's intent is a constantly permeating and troublesome question in the minds of Supreme Court Justices, judges, prominent politicians, and policy makers alike. It is a problem that has been pondered for years and years in the courtrooms and on paper with no real conclusion. One such essay arguing this dilemma is "How Not to Read the Constitution" by Laurence H. Tribe and Michael C. Dorf, who explore the questions "Is reading the text just a pretext for expressing the reader's vision in the august, almost holy terms of constitutional law?" and "Is the Constitution simply a mirror in which one sees what one wants to see?" (Tribe, 49). While Tribe and Dorf begin their article with a seemingly unbiased opinion on the subject, by the end of the essay it is quite clear that the authors believe in the United States Constitution as a living document which is vulnerable to interpretation and changes with the times.

There is much research citing evidence which both supports and argues against the idea that the Constitution can be freely interpreted to adjust to modern society. Neither of the two sides have very solid, concrete arguments. The supports are all very porous and can be easily attacked by the other side. Therefore, there is no right answer to the question of Constitutional interpretation. In order to understand the topic at hand, one must first have a firm grasp on the original framing of the Constitution.

The Constitution was written in a time of national turmoil. Bankruptcy and hunger were rampant throughout the country. The Articles of Confederation, written in 1781, proved to be a failure and the politicians were under a lot of pressure to create a functioning national government and a workable law for the land. The Articles of Confederation laid down some of the fundamentals of our national government, but still it had many flaws, such as an inability to regulate commerce and an inability to tax, among others (Scholastic Update, 2). The main players in the organizing and writing of the Constitution are Alexander Hamilton of New York, James Madison of Virginia, and George Washington.

They believed in a stronger national government and Congress' right to regulate trade. In response to Shay's rebellion which consisted of farmers protesting taxes, a convention was called for by Madison and Hamilton to be held in Philadelphia in 1787. It was during this convention that the foundations for the Constitution were worked out. A completely new government was created and put on paper between May 25 and the final signing of the Constitution on September 17. The document was debated for sometime between Federalists and Anti-Federalists, but in December 1971 ten Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution in order to give rights to the citizens of the United States.

This pleased both sides, and the Constitution was ratified (Scholastic Update, 4). The document produced from this convention has been the effective law of the land for over 200 years. "..out of the chaos of the 1780s emerged the Constitution, perhaps the most effective model of government ever devised. It was written by a small group of quarreling people under intense pressure. They knew how difficult their job was--and that what they had come up with wasn't perfect. But they hoped they had created something that would be a living document for future generations" (Scholastic Update 2).

The Constitution has been the center of many disputes as to how literally it should be read and followed. There is much evidence available which can point to the conclusion that the Constitution should be seen as a living document. This means that lawmakers and judges can find solutions to modern problems by taking the standards of the original framers, and translating them into modern standards. " [The framers] took the records and experiences of the colonial governments, the Continental Congress, the Articles of Confederation, and all the hopes and dreams of those early colonialists and forged and instrument based on individual freedom that is so vague and nebulous, yet so dynamic and flexible, it often is referred to as 'a living thing'"(Rupert, 2). This "poetic license" can be a great benefit to modern society.

The living document theory is an idea which is popularly supported by both political parties. This fact holds a lot of weight, because it is very rare to have such bipartisan agreement. Even in Tribe and Dorf's essay, they state that "The belief that we must look beyond the specific views of the Framers to apply the Constitution to contemporary problems is not necessarily a 'liberal' position. Indeed, not even the most 'conservative' justices today believe in a jurisprudence of original intent that looks only to the Framers' unenacted views about particular institutions or practices." (Tribe, 49). The vagueness of the original Constitution brings up a few issues concerning the legitimacy of the literal reading of the Constitution as it relates to modern times.

Since the Constitution was written at a time so different and so distant from our own time, we have no way of truly knowing what the original understanding of the document was. The meetings that were held to write the Constitution were not well documented, so the discussions that went on between the framers are not known. This information would greatly aid in knowing the original understanding. Besides the generic realm of the original understanding of the Constitution, there are many specific issues which Tribe and Dorf point out in their article. "[The Constitution's] Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of 'cruel and unusual punishment,' but gives no examples of permissible or impermissible punishments.

Article IV requires that '[t]he United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,' but attempts no definition of republican government. The Fourteenth Amendment proscribes state abridgments of the 'privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,' but contains no catalog of privileges or immunities." (Tribe, 48). There are many issues presented to us today that the framers would never have been able to fathom. An example of this would be the recent controversies over the censoring of pornography over the Internet. The Internet is a medium for communication that was far beyond the realms of imagination only twenty years ago, so how could the framers of our Constitution possibly set any limits to freedom of speech over 200 years ago that would be applicable to this new form of speech? The answ ...

Related: balances, alexander hamilton, small group, modern society, medium

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