The Framers Of The Bill Of Rights

There Is No Such Thing As A False Idea.

We Current Justices Read The Constitution In The Only Way That We Can: As 20th-century Americans.

Our Amended Constitution Is The Lodestar For Our Aspirations. Like Every Text Worth Reading, It Is Not Crystalline. The Phrasing Is Broad And The Limitations Of Its Provisions Are Not Clearly Marked. Its Majestic Generalities And Ennobling Pronouncements Are Both Luminous And Obscure. This Ambiguity Of Course Calls Forth Interpretation, The Interaction Of Reader And Text. The Encounter With The Constitutional Text Has Been, In Many Senses, My Life's Work.

The Principle Inherent In The Clause That Prohibits Pointless Infliction Of Excessive Punishment When Less Severe Punishment Can Adequately Achieve The Same Purposes Invalidates The Punishment.

If A Policeman Must Know The Constitution, Then Why Not A Planner?