Supreme Court Should Rely On ‘Living Constitution,’ New Surveys Show

REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Kevin Daley Supreme Court correspondent
Font Size:

A majority of Americans believe the U.S. Supreme Court should interpret the Constitution in light of contemporary standards, norms, and expectations, new surveys show.

The survey shows dramatic partisan and generational divides about constitutional interpretation.

A new report from the Pew Research Center called “The Public, The Political System and American Democracy” shows 55 percent of Americans believe the high court should “make its rulings based on what the Constitution ‘means in current times.'” In contrast, 46 percent believe the justices should rely on the original understanding of constitutional provisions.

The results suggest a recent shift in public thinking about constitutional interpretation. According to Pew, Americans divided fairly evenly as recently as 2016 with respect to judicial interpretative methods. In an October 2016 Pew poll, 46 percent said the justices should rely on the founding charter’s original meaning, while 46 percent endorsed so-called “living constitution” theories. (RELATED: Supreme Court Clears Way For Legal Sports Betting Across The Country)

The shift appears attributable to Democratic voters. The new report shows 78 percent of Democrats believe the Court should look to the current context, a nine-point increase compared to the 2016 poll. Though nearly a third of Republicans take the same view, Pew says this is consistent with previous results.

The gap is widest between generations. 64 percent of Americans under the age of 50 want the justices to utilize modern norms, while 47 percent of Americans over 50 say the same.

Originalism, which argues judges should begin their constitutional analysis by applying the meaning of constitutional text as understood at the time of its adoption, is popular with conservative jurists. Some conservatives believe originalism constrains the power of courts by privileging democratic process over judicial preference, while others argue it can help the public recover economic freedoms and civil liberties lost in the modern period.

Living constitutionalists, who are generally progressives, believe the Constitution is a dynamic document which establishes certain principles meant to be reinterpreted as society changes. Adherents say their view is a pragmatic concession ensuring federal law is not subject to antiquated mores, while championing the rights of the marginalized, which are not always vindicated through popular elections.

Follow Kevin on Twitter

Send tips to kevin@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel