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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: frankw1900 who wrote (84938)11/8/2004 9:43:54 PM
From: Ilaine   of 793817
 
In what fashion is a [strict] constructionist different from a literalist?

I once spent months on trying to figure out what "strict construction" meant, downloading, printing out, and reading dozens, maybe hundreds, of law review essays on this. I still have them in a box (or maybe two) in the basement. I gave up, and just bought the dictionary the majority of judges seemed to like (the really big Webster's).

The easiest way I can define it would be to treat the words as they are written in ordinary English, using a dictionary if need be (literalism). But that does not suffice because the terms still need some interpretation (e.g., what does it mean to "promote the general welfare" (a phrase in our Constitution)? What is "promote"? What is "welfare"? What is "general welfare"?)

I am probably not the right person to ask. I think they all twist things to suit themselves.
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