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| Maclin Davis on the Constitution - 2 of 5 |
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This is the second of five segments of a
speech by Maclin Davis.
Prepared Remarks
The great majority of court decisions have
correctly ruled on how to interpret the
meaning of constitutional provisions. Our
founding fathers made clear statements on
this point. Let us consider some of them.
I am quoting from the Corpus Juris Secundum,
which is a lawbook which contains collections
of all decisions by courts, state and
federal, in this country since it started.
"Where a constitutional provision is
comprehensive in scope and leaves no room for
interpretation, a court is without power to
amend, add to, or detract from a
constitutional provision, or to create
exceptions thereto by implication."
"When interpreting constitutional provisions,
the courts look first to the plain language
of the text and will accord it its reasonable
interpretation."
"Unless to do so would contravene the
manifest intention of the framers, the
language of a constitutional provision should
be construed as it is written, and the words
employed should be given their natural and
obvious significance, having due regard for
the rules of grammar and punctuation."
"The basic principle of the American
constitutional system is that all political
power is inherent in the people, and that
this inherent power is exercised by the
people under a constitution adopted by them."
Thomas Jefferson said, "On every question of
construction, carry ourselves back to a time
when the Constitution was adopted, recollect
the spirit manifested in the debates, and
instead of trying what meaning can be
squeezed out of the text, or invented against
it, conform to the probable one in which it
was passed."
And James Madison said, "I entirely concur in
the propriety of resorting to the sense in
which the Constitution was accepted and
ratified by the nation. In that sense alone,
it is the legitimate Constitution."
George Washington said, "If, in the opinion
of the people, the distribution or the
modification of the constitutional powers be
in any particular wrong, let it be corrected
by an amendment in the way which the
Constitution designates. But let there be no
change by usurpation; for though this in one
instance may be the instrument of good, it is
the customary weapon by which free
governments are destroyed."
In spite of all this, there have been some
liberal judges in recent years who have
changed the original meaning of the
Constitution to promote the liberal agenda.
The most famous of these rulings is Roe v.
Wade, in which the United States Supreme
Court held that the Constitution prohibits a
state from passing laws making abortions
illegal. At that time, 33 states had passed
and kept in effect state laws prohibiting
abortions, and 17 states had made abortions
legal.
There are no words in the Constitution or any
amendment that give to the federal government
or the federal Supreme Court any right to
make that ruling. The word "abortion" is not
mentioned in the Constitution.
Prepared Remarks Continued in Next Segment
Tags : "Maclin Davis" "Constitutional Law" Constitution Nashville Tennessee statesman lawyer attorney conservative politics |
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Affichage : 121
Durée : 264 s |
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