"Loose" And "Strict" Constructionism.
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Submitted by rustyc on 06/30/2008 05:21 PM
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"Loose" And "Strict" Constructionism.
In some court cases in the United States, a judge has used the power of Judicial Review, allowing them to declare an act unconstitutional. The judge then consults the highest authority - the Constitution. Here, the issue of interpretation arises. Like today, Constitutional interpretation created many conflicts during the early years of the U.S, eventually aiding in the birth of political parties. The nation was divided on the two main philosophies. Some believed in the philosophy of "loose" constructionism while others believed in the idea of "strict" constructionism. Loose constructionism is the idea that interpretation of the Constitution held that Congress had "implied powers" to do anything necessary and proper to carry out its constitutional functions. Strict constructionism believed that Congress had only those powers specifically given to it in the Constitution.
Strict constructionists believe that following exactly what the law actually says in the Constitution is the only way to ensure that a court's rulings can ever be considered fair and just. Otherwise, the court systems would draw their own conclusions about what the law really means. In a sense, nothing would be considered real but rather "making it up". This could cause the Constitution to be altered unknowingly. In this case, what would be the point of having elected representatives in the amending process if we already have non-elected judges revising the Constitution for us? Anti-federalists, such as Thomas Jefferson supported this idea basically because of their fear that civil liberties would never be guaranteed. He believed that the federal government would gain too much power under loose interpretation. The government could gain many rights as it pleased by using this concept. Too much power took away from state rights. The United States would just develop in to the same English regime that took the colonist's rights away. This is exactly why the Constitution was written in the...
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