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What happens if 26 states vote for medical weed?
Message
From
02/06/2011 17:57:59
 
General information
Forum:
Politics
Category:
Other
Miscellaneous
Thread ID:
01512494
Message ID:
01512659
Views:
57
>>>>>Is the health care bill constitutional?
>>>>>
>>>>>Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see how it works out.
>>>>
>>>>Whichever way the courts untimately decide on this particular issue is no indication on it's underlining Constitutionality.
>>>
>>>Maybe. Maybe not.
>>>
>>>I have more faith in the process helping the world become a better place, than the world being perfect at any given time.
>>
>>I have little faith in the system as it has been completely corrupted. The very concept of a "living constitution" invalidates the Constitution itself. If it is not the supreme law of the land, but instead open to interpretation then all laws are subject to the same whims of political expediency.

That the Constitution may be amended is set forth in the Constitution.
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A5.html

Of couse amendments are not at all what I'm referring to.

Living Constitution
The Living Constitution is a concept in America, also referred to as loose constructionism, constitutional interpretation which claims that the Constitution has a dynamic meaning or that it has the properties of a human in the sense that it changes. The idea is associated with views that contemporaneous society should be taken into account when interpreting key constitutional phrases
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_Constitution#cite_note-0

It's not the amendments themselves that are at issue, but their "interpretation" through time. If the document which forms the basis of our country is open to interpretation then it is subject to the political whims of the day. That is fundamentally at odds with the founding document. It is meant to be amendable, but that process was designed to be difficult requiring supermajorities of Congress and the States. The idea of a "living" Constitution undermines this by enabling a simple majority of a single branch of government to fundamentally alter those very amendments meaning thus negating the supermajorities previous determination.

>We disagree profoundly here, and I'm sure if the founders were still alive they would disagree with you, too. The Constitution was specifically written to be amendable. Those guys were capable of seeing a long way into the future and they were smart enough to realize they could not know what turns the future might take. They set down certain inalienable principles and left a door open for changes. Heck, they made changes themselves in rapid order, i.e. the Bill of Rights. In this case I will post the text itself and not just a link. The Constitution was meant to be a guiding principle but it was never meant to be cast in stone.
>
>U.S. Bill of Rights, a.k.a. first 10 amendments to the U.S., Constitution --
>
>
>
>
>The Bill of Rights: A Transcription
>
>The Preamble to The Bill of Rights
>
>Congress of the United States
>begun and held at the City of New-York, on
>Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
>
>THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
>
>RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.
>
>ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
>
>Note: The following text is a transcription of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in their original form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is known as the "Bill of Rights."
>
>Amendment I
>
>Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
>
>Amendment II
>
>A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
>
>Amendment III
>
>No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
>
>Amendment IV
>
>The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
>
>Amendment V
>
>No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
>
>Amendment VI
>
>In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
>
>Amendment VII
>
>In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
>
>Amendment VIII
>
>Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
>
>Amendment IX
>
>The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
>
>Amendment X
>
>The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Wine is sunlight, held together by water - Galileo Galilei
Un jour sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil - Louis Pasteur
Water separates the people of the world; wine unites them - anonymous
Wine is the most civilized thing in the world - Ernest Hemingway
Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance - Benjamin Franklin
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