Are We Interpreting the U.S. Constitution Too Literally?
The author of the tweet here has a great deal of common sense, though there are only a few present-day interpretations of the Constitution that seem to miss the mark. In particular:
The idea that the Second Amendment prohibits us from enacting common sense gun laws is ludicrous, and I’m not the only one with this opinion. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger once said, “The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word fraud, on the American people by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”
The notion that “corporations are people” and should therefore be afforded the rights to free speech as guaranteed under the First Amendment is arguably even worse.
Where we’re going with the 14th and 15th Amendments and the right of all citizens to vote, regardless of race, is anyone’s guess. In the American South, Republicans are removing ballot boxes from predominantly black neighborhoods. If that doesn’t violate the Constitution, it’s hard to imagine what does.