Interpreting the Constitution

[Kevin Elliott]

At 17:36 -0600  on  3/14/01, Jim Choate wrote:
>Per the 10'th: Where in there (ie Section 2 in particular) does it say
>that ANY court has the job of determining the meaning of the Constitution?

>      Section. 2.
>      The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity,
>      arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States,
>      and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their
>      Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
>      Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime
>      Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall
>      be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--
>      between a State and Citizens of another State;--between Citizens
>      of different States;--between Citizens of the same State claiming
>      Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or
>      the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

It begins here and is extended by the 14th.  A judges job is to apply 
the law to the case presented to him.  For all federal judges (and 
today state judges) the law is a stack of rulings by other courts and 
laws based by legislative bodies.
For a federal court the stack is

The Constitution.
The accumulated federal statues
Case law

For state courts we have

The Constitution (per the 14th)
State Law
Case law

Any layer can be overridden by the layer above it, so state and 
federal judges are expected to take all layers into account to 
minimize the number of rulings that have to overturned on appeal.  It 
is also expected that lower courts take a more strict view of the law 
than appellate courts as the appellate courts job is to rule on 
points of law while the lower court is a primarily a finder of fact 
with ruling on law a secondary role (the difference between appellate 
and original jurisdiction).
-- 

"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both 
instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly 
unchanged.  And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware 
of change in the air--however slight--lest we become unwitting 
victims of the darkness."
-- Justice William O. Douglas
____________________________________________________________________
Kevin "The Cubbie" Elliott 
<mailto:kelliott at mac.com>                             ICQ#23758827