For those whose exclusive norm of constitutional judging is merely fair reading of language applied to facts objectively viewed, 'Brown' must either be flat-out wrong or a very mystifying decision.
David SouterRead
The Constitution is a pantheon of values, and a lot of hard cases are hard because the Constitution gives no simple rule of decision for the cases in which one of the values is truly at odds with another.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The Constitution embodies complex values that can conflict, making legal decisions challenging.
David Souter’s quote reflects the intricate nature of the Constitution as a framework of values rather than a set of simplistic rules. It emphasizes that when values specified in the Constitution clash, there is often no straightforward solution, highlighting the difficulty faced by judges and lawmakers in interpreting and applying these values in real-world situations.
Themes
ConstitutionValuesLawDecisionJudges
In practice
Example use cases
In a law class discussing the complexities of legal interpretation, this quote can illustrate the challenges judges face.
More from David Souter
All quotes →The language of the Constitution's guarantee of equal protection of the laws did not change between 1896 and 1954, and it would be very hard to say that the obvious facts on which 'Plessy' was based had changed.
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There is a danger to judicial independence when people have no understanding of how the judiciary fits into the constitutional scheme.
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The Constitution is no simple contract, not because it uses a certain amount of open-ended language, but because its language grants and guarantees many good things, and good things that compete with each other and can never all be realized, altogether, all at once.
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