I don't understand this tradition.
My question is what exactly is the purpose of using the founding fathers or even the foundations of the United States as a means of creating laws in today's society. From what I understand none of the people who made a lot of the rules today are no longer alive. So why would we care what these people wanted? Maybe this is a stupid question but whenever I hear people argue about politics almost inevitably someone brings up the foundations of the country. I always thought that what was more important was what was better for the people in that society. So can someone please clarify why this seems to be a valid argument?
The Framers were very clear as to their intent:
A Constitutional Republic
Citizens subject solely to the rule of law, not men
Citizens' rights safeguarded by the Constitution and its case law
Federal laws and the rulings of the Federal courts are the supreme law of the land, binding on the states and local jurisdictions
The Federal courts – and ultimately the Supreme Court – determine what the Constitution means and the intent of the Framers, and determine the validity and constitutionality of Federal, state, and local laws and measures
The rights of citizens are paramount, the states and local jurisdictions subordinate to citizens' rights
The rights of citizens are inalienable, they can be neither taken nor bestowed by any government, constitution, or man
Citizens' rights are not subject to 'majority rule'
Citizens do not 'forfeit' their rights merely as a consequence of their state of residence
Although inalienable, citizens' rights are not absolute, and subject to reasonable restrictions by government.
As Justice Kennedy explained in
Lawrence:
“Had those who drew and ratified the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth Amendment or the Fourteenth Amendment known the components of liberty in its manifold possibilities, they might have been more specific. They did not presume to have this insight. They knew times can blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper in fact serve only to oppress. As the Constitution endures, persons in every generation can invoke its principles in their own search for greater freedom.”
Citizens need only follow Constitutional case law to understand the intent of the Framers and whether given laws and measures comport with Constitutional case law; indeed, much of the litigation over the years could have been easily avoided if the states and local jurisdictions simply followed Constitutional jurisprudence.
