Dear Editor: What is a Living Constitution?

Dear Editor,

What is a Living Constitution?

Since I have gotten political (my youngest daughter’s fault), I have heard from time to time references to the Constitution as a living document. I have always thought of the Constitution as the law of the land. What our great country was based on and without it, the United States would just be another kingdom or worse.

And of course, the only way to understand something is to learn about it. After many hours of researching Living Constitution I have come to the conclusion that it basically means that laws will be decided at the judge’s bench. The thought is that the Constitution as written does not consider modern times. The needs of a modern government.

Those in favor of the concept of a Living Constitution have a variety of reasons. Many think that contemporary society should be considered in the interpretation of the Constitution. Some think that the Constitution is written in broad and flexible terms to create a dynamic for a living constitution.

Federal judge Richard Posner (1981 to 2000) believed that there are holes in the Constitution that judges need to fill. He said that to use the Constitution as written would mean states could require everyone to marry or to have sex at least once a month (just once?) or it could take every couple’s second child and place it in a foster home. These are some wild examples of state sovereignty. The Constitution is written so that the people of a state will decide life in that state. Not the state government. I can’t believe that a federal judge would spew such garbage. Okay. Looking at what has happened over the decades, I can believe it.

Then there are my particular favorites. "Liberty in 1791 is not the same as liberty in 1591 or in 1991." Got that? Want to read it again? It gets better. Thinking judicially, the viewpoint is that the Constitution's meaning evolves and will change with new circumstances even if the document is not amended. They feel the Constitution will develop as society needs and "will be a more malleable tool for government use."’ Got that? Want to read it again?

The Constitution is the Law of the Land. It is not bendable to the government. It is written to protect the citizens from an ever-expanding government. Liberties are guaranteed. They do not change at the whim of bureaucrats, elected officials, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the rich and famous or foreign governments. The ‘framers’ of the Constitution knew that their document was a tad vague and can be hard to understand, so they wrote a series of letters published to explain the Constitution in layman's terms. These are better known as the Bill of Rights.

The nation is going to the proverbial s-hole due to a nation’s ignorance of what we are. Like the term ‘democracy’. The United States is a Republic. Never meant to be a democracy. A Republic means that every citizen of the United States is entitled to their pursuit of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, as stated in the Declaration of Independence.

A ‘Living Constitution’ removes the citizen from that pursuit and says the courts will decide what you will be happy with. A Living Constitution removes the citizen Representatives of the House from lawmaking and gives the courts the right to create laws from the bench. We have already seen the damage that government programs run amok is doing to our country.

Remember, the more government, the less freedom.

Jim Buterbaugh

Whitehall, Montana