AJ 025 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Originalism, Flag Desecration, Textualism
15 Sep 2020
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Legalism: focus on role of law and legal methods in determining how justices interpret. Constitution, emphasizing its words, u. s history, and precedent. Realism: considers nonrealistic factors, like politics/ideological bias. Justices should interpret constitution legally, but don"t always shed their biases. Intent: asks what the framers wanted to do. Original meaning: considers what the specific words of the constitution meant to (or how they were understood by) those who enacted it, at the time it was enacted. Advocates of original intent assert that (1) framers acted in a calculated manner, and (2) this approach fosters stability in law. Originalistic approaches seek to create value-free understandings of constitution. Former justice thurgood marshall raised objections to originalism in framers" treatment of women/blacks; using only this approach would reject constitutional development. Questions arise of what sources justices should use to understand framers" intentions, and how to understand the exact words used. Textualism: places emphasis on what the constitution says ( literalism )
