>Article 3 Section 2
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A3Sec2.html>
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...>
>The Constitution is not to be interpreted, it is to be used to interpret cases, legislation, treaties etc. We need the judicial branch to ensure that the Legislative and Executive branches do not violate the Constitution. If the Constitution is open to interpretation, then there is no established rigorous "check" on the other branches, merely the whims of the present justices. The Constitution is meant to stand as THE law establishing and thereby restraining the power of the 3 branches.
The problem is that the Constitution sometimes needs interpretation. Let's take one clause that's been in the news over the last few years:
From Article 2, Section 1:
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Questions I can see quickly from that sentence:
1) What is the meaning of "natural born"? Specifically, does it mean "born a citizen" or "born within the borders of the US"? (If I wanted to be argumentative, I could even point out that one interpretation would even eliminate those born by C-Section or those for whom labor was induced. But I think we can all agree that the founders weren't really interested in the manner of birth.)
2) Does "been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States" mean that you have to have been living within the US borders for all of the last 14 years? Does that mean service people who've been stationed outside the US are eliminated? What about people who lived overseas for work?
That's too meaty questions from one sentence. How can you say the document doesn't need to be interpreted?
Tamar
