We must never forget that it is a constitution we are expounding.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The interpreter must remember they are defining a supreme legal document, not a simple statute.
- In plain terms
- Remember you are interpreting a constitution, not a regular law.
- What can you take from it?
- Interpretation requires understanding the document's status.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a constitution different?
- How does status affect meaning?
Another view
Sometimes the text itself is clear enough to need no deep context.
More from John Marshall
The acme of judicial distinction means the ability to look a lawyer straight in the eyes for two hours and not hear a damned word he says.
Permalink to quote #4 This provision is made in a constitution, intended to endure for ages to come, and consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.
Permalink to quote #6 The law does not expect a man to be prepared to defend every act of his life which may be suddenly and without notice alleged against him.
Permalink to quote #3
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