The Constitution Guy
You Say It's in the Constitution
Introducing the Constitution Guy Website
“The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.”
In 1961, Republican Senator Styles Bridges inserted a speech into the Congressional Record. In that speech, the inspirational aphorism noted above was attributed to one of our most beloved Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. The Congressional Record is, of course, the official journal of the proceedings of the U.S. Congress. It is not only filled with substantive policy discussions and parliamentary skirmishes, but also delicious food recipes (including for, no kidding, “Pot-Likker” soup) and the occasional ode to patriotism.
Anyway, back to the Benjamin Franklin quote. These famous words by the “First American” have appeared on countless websites, mainstream publications, and poorly designed political posters. The problem is, Benjamin Franklin never said them. How do we know this? Well, the phrase “pursuit of happiness” appears in the Declaration of Independence, not the U.S. Constitution.
We can safely speculate that Benjamin Franklin, a signatory to both documents, would have known the difference. The former is a colonial era press release justifying treason against the British Crown, while the latter, interestingly enough, was result of maritime negotiations between Virginia and Maryland. Of course, one understands how people can easily confuse these two documents, especially if they spent their high school history class napping or flirting with the person that sat behind them.
The Mission
This kind of silliness is what this website is designed to prevent. From many years, I was one of the key contributors and editors of the legal treatise The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation (Constitution Annotated). I was also the prime architect of the Constitution Annotated website, based on that document. Feel free to read it sometime. However, at almost two million words, it can be a bit intimidating for the non-lawyer. Thus, I am launching this website to bring a plain meaning explanation of the Constitution to a broader audience.
So first, let's start with the text of the Constitution. Now, the Constitution itself is actually an easy read, principally because most people just skip the hard stuff the way they skimmed Fifty Shades of Grey, pausing briefly at the dirty parts. This is understandable. Many constitutional topics are of interest only to historians, late-night comedians, and geek academics, such as the apportionment of direct taxes, the prohibition on foreign emoluments, and the requirement that no one shall question the debt of the United States.
The first is obsolete, the second concerns whether Trump Hotel should have been charging foreign heads of state $150 for a platter of overripe honeydew, and no one has the slightest idea what the third one means. Think of the Constitution as one of those computer software update contracts that you click on without reading. Some lawyer might care that you can't sue Microsoft for melting your phone, but most people just “Agree” and move on with their lives.
Anyway, focusing on the constitutional text kind of misses the point; the words of the Constitution by themselves are of little practical use to anyone. The meaning of the Constitution is, shall we say, a little more complicated. A true understanding of the Constitution involves learning about its history, development, complexities, and ambiguities. And that means (wait for it), reading constitutional case law. Lots and lots of case law. Or, in the alternative, you can read this website.
The Method
Now, it seems that every week something happens in the news that gives rise to all sorts of interesting constitutional questions and opinions of questionable accuracy. Based on that theory, this website will present a series of posts. By this method, we can explore not only the greatest hits of constitutional law (Free Speech, Due Process, Equal Protection), but also the forgotten, the misbegotten, and the stranger parts of the document that attract few people's attention. No constitutional issue is too obscure, no topic too demanding, no issue too provocative to ignore. When we are done, you might need to take a shower, but at least you will understand the very basis for American life itself – the idolatry of a short, written document unaccompanied by any idea of what is actually in it.
The Madness
To begin the adventure, click on "Posts."