alt Hacker NewsIf you shift from being a living constitutionalist to a strict textualist based on the case in question, then what you really are is a machiavellian.
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It's not so clear cut to me (looking from outside).
It makes sense to interpret some cases in historical context and others not, because some cases are not as much affected by the difference in context.
That's not being machiavellian - that's avoiding an one size fits all approach.
Who did that?
My favorite argument (presented by a constitutional scholar) against originalism is that a constitution interpreted precisely as written by wealthy, landed 18th century white men disenfranchises every person who is not a wealthy, landed 18th century white man, roughly in proportion to how much they share in common with such a person.
Edit: the scholar is Kate Shaw. She presents her arguments a lot more coherently than me, seeing as it’s her life’s work. I advise you read her scholarly work or watch her interviews especially on Originalism rather than try to squeeze an argument out of me.
Kavanaugh's dissent is kinda hilarious in this context.
> The original constitutional principles do not change absent a constitutional amendment, but the relevant principles— both the rules and exceptions alike—must be faithfully applied not only to circumstances as they existed in 1787, 1791, and 1868, for example, but also to modern situations that were unknown or unanticipated by the Constitution’s Framers.
This, of course, doesn't include machine guns.