ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the textual analysis that presents an objective theory of interpretation that is based on original meanings of constitutional language. Textual analysis requires application of the canons of documentary construction, and, if needed, evidence of total social context that facilitates the search for purposes. No one knows the thoughts of each person at the Constitutional Convention and at the ratifying conventions that turned the proposed document into law. The chapter provides an explanation of the necessary rejection of stare decisis in constitutional cases in the Supreme Court. It demonstrates that the search for subjective intent of the framers and ratifiers, a popular slogan of some political conservatives, is an impossibility. When drafting the Constitution, the framers were aware that, in the creation of a government, they could not anticipate the many future controversies that would arise concerning the meaning and purpose of any given clause.
