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Summary Of Antonin Scalia's Adoption Of The Constitution

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The articles written by Antonin Scalia and Stephen Breyer both contribute valid insight on how the Constitution should be interpreted. They, however, end up taking conflicting views on whether to adopt what is known as a living constitution or to bind the judiciary by the original meaning of the document. Throughout their works, the authors mention the importance of objectivity, judicial restraint and the historical context in which the Constitution was written under and whether or not it should apply to the United States today. Scalia argues in favor of the originalist approach, stating that he supports neither a strict nor a loose interpretation of the Constitution, but rather, a reasonable interpretation. Breyer sides with the cosequentialist ideals, claiming that active participation in collective power is paramount when it comes to evaluating the Constitution's place in American law. Furthermore, in their articles, Scalia and Breyer both take time to criticize their opponent's arguments. This results in some interesting and well thought out points formulated by each party. Scalia begins his piece by …show more content…

One of Scalia's first arguments in favor of the enduring Constitution claims that the document already has a means of changing without having to interpret it in a different way. The amendment process presents a way to alter the Constitution to remain compatible with modern American society without having to pretend that the words the founders wrote two hundred years ago mean something they do not. The issue with this school of thought lies with the fact that passing an amendment is an incredibly demanding process. It requires an astounding amount of cooperation from Congress, the Senate and the President. Creating an amendment for every last minute alteration to the Constitution would be unreasonably time consuming and

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