what were the main objectives of the framers of the constitution
Answers
Answered by
3
For the past 40 years, political conservatives have effectively framed the national debate over constitutional interpretation. According to the conservatives’ narrative, their approach to constitutional interpretation adheres to the true meaning of the Constitution and to the Rule of Law, whereas “liberal” jurisprudence is concerned only with achieving specific desired outcomes, without regard to the text, history or meaning of the Constitution.
The gains that conservatives have achieved by characterizing the debate in this manner cannot be overstated. Because the public has generally accepted the conservative account, Republican presidents have been much more aggressive than their Democratic counterparts in appointing judges with strongly ideological inclinations, and constitutional doctrine has veered sharply to the right as conservative jurists have become ever bolder in their pursuit of politically conservative results. Meanwhile, at the grassroots level, a new strain of conservative constitutionalism has recently emerged that insists that even such traditional legislative measures as civil rights laws and social welfare programs are unconstitutional, reflecting an even more aggressive conception of conservative judicial ideology.
The conservative constitutional narrative is deeply unprincipled and patently wrong, both in its defense of conservative judicial ideology and in its attack on what conservatives deride as a result-oriented “liberal” jurisprudence. In fact, most of the decisions the conservatives deride are premised on sound principles of constitutional interpretation and on the Framers’ own understanding of our Constitution and of the essential role of courts in our constitutional system. But although progressives actually hold the high ground in this debate, we have generally failed in public discourse either to unmask the realities of conservative judicial methodology or to explain the logic, legitimacy and coherence of our understanding of constitutional interpretation. Unless we take up this challenge, we will continue to lose in the courts, in nomination battles, in the legislatures, and at the polls. It is time for ACS and its members to take up this challenge.
The gains that conservatives have achieved by characterizing the debate in this manner cannot be overstated. Because the public has generally accepted the conservative account, Republican presidents have been much more aggressive than their Democratic counterparts in appointing judges with strongly ideological inclinations, and constitutional doctrine has veered sharply to the right as conservative jurists have become ever bolder in their pursuit of politically conservative results. Meanwhile, at the grassroots level, a new strain of conservative constitutionalism has recently emerged that insists that even such traditional legislative measures as civil rights laws and social welfare programs are unconstitutional, reflecting an even more aggressive conception of conservative judicial ideology.
The conservative constitutional narrative is deeply unprincipled and patently wrong, both in its defense of conservative judicial ideology and in its attack on what conservatives deride as a result-oriented “liberal” jurisprudence. In fact, most of the decisions the conservatives deride are premised on sound principles of constitutional interpretation and on the Framers’ own understanding of our Constitution and of the essential role of courts in our constitutional system. But although progressives actually hold the high ground in this debate, we have generally failed in public discourse either to unmask the realities of conservative judicial methodology or to explain the logic, legitimacy and coherence of our understanding of constitutional interpretation. Unless we take up this challenge, we will continue to lose in the courts, in nomination battles, in the legislatures, and at the polls. It is time for ACS and its members to take up this challenge.
Similar questions