INTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION

INTERPRETING THE CONSTITUTION

There are usually two lines of thinking when it comes to interpreting the Constitution.  The first is to say that it needs no interpretation, that is can just be read.  The second is that the Constitution should be interpreted using rules that are applicable to today’s society.

The founders did believe that the Constitution should be interpreted, but they also believed that the interpretation should and would be limited by long established legal rules and guidelines.

At the time the Constitution was put together, the fundamental guideline for interpreting a legal document was that the document be construed according to the intent of the people putting the document together.

The Constitution should be interpreted by what the ratifiers understood the Constitution to mean.  But sometimes there is a lack of evidence of what certain phrases mean.  In that case you should interpret the Constitution in the same way a reasonable, involved person would have construed it at the time.