The framers of the constitution understood this well.
The framers of the Constitution understood those fundamental principles, and so do the American people.
Lincoln, so knowledgeable of the Constitution, understood that even though the founders separated church and state, America has never separated religion and politics.
The drafters of the constitution understood that the tyranny of the majority could be more fearsome and destructive than the rule of an autocratic despot.
Even when we were a tiny fraction of our present size and breadth, the framers of our Constitution understood the need for holding ourselves together, whatever our differences.
The framers of the Constitution understood the importance of balancing openness with confidentiality: James Madison championed the right to public trials, but delayed releasing the minutes of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to protect candid deliberation.
If those who created the Constitution understood or even anticipated the possibility of major social alterations, how did they expect constitutional law – text and interpretation – to accommodate such developments?
If those who created the Constitution understood or even anticipated the possibility of major social alterations, how did they expect constitutional law - text and interpretation - to accommodate such developments?
Kramer's history begins before the Revolutionary War, at a time when people who accused government authorities of acting contrary to the "constitution" understood themselves to be appealing to a binding "higher law," pleading their cases not to judges but to juries, colonial legislatures and governors, and the king and Parliament.
The stale self-righteousness that attaches to a certain brand of modern-day conservative was not for Mr. Buckley, a man, who — with his love of yachting, peanut butter and the Constitution — understood that the art of politics did not preclude the act of having fun.
