The original intent of a law, and the original intent of the
Constitution or an Amendment, is what the people consented to through their
representatives in the legislature when the law was passed or the Constitution
and Amendments were ratified. Subsequently changing the meaning of what
was agreed to by a court decision is, in reality, governing without the consent
of the governed. In commerce, it's called bait and switch. The
"Living Constitution," basically says the Constitution says whatever
5 Supreme Court Justices say it says on any given day.
If the interpretation of laws that is no longer predictable,
it means that there really is no rule of law. We instead have a rule of
unchecked judges with lifetime tenure. This is a serious problem that has
become obvious in the last 20 years. Before we pass lots of interesting
new laws, we need to acknowledge that we have no idea how any of them will be interpreted.
Judges will make the interpretation up as they go along.
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