"On Reading the Constitution"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at how the basis for American government and the American legal system is the U.S. Constitution. It discusses how although it might seem to be a simple document written in direct language, it has been subject to a wide variety of interpretations since the founding of the nation and how it is the task of the Supreme Court is to decide between different interpretations of the Constitution and its provisions. It shows how in their book "On Reading the Constitution", Laurence H. Tribe and Michael C. Dorf discuss what it means to "read" the Constitution and attempt to analyze what the document really means.

From the Paper:

"The authors consider the history of the Constitution and what it says about the meaning that should be attributed to the document and the ways in which it should be read. They examine closely certain clauses in the Constitution to show ambiguities and ways in which different interpretations can be made of the same words. Examples from different cases are used to illustrate this fact, and an examination of the history of the Constitution shows how a given clause can be interpreted differently at widely separated times to turn the law one way first and then another way based on the same source. The authors also use a hypothetical situation to illustrate ways in which the Constitution might be read with reference to a question of federalism, showing how different clauses of the Constitution may conflict and how different interpreters may turn to one or another of the clauses for an answer. "

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