Advantages Of Textualism

The Constitution is a very intricate and complex document that is very important, if not the most important document of all. It is considered as the framework of our government; often used to resolve court cases and guide the government in decision making. Since it is so crucial to our government, each and every word must be interpreted very carefully and precisely. There are many ways to do this, but one method commonly used to decide what the Constitution means is textualism. Textualism is a method of statutory interpretation. Statutory interpretation is a legal principle where a judge attempts to understand and apply legislation to a certain case. This principle is used by judges because local, state, and federal laws may not address

On the other hand, it allows the judge to solely interpret the text which may cause him or her to put their own view on what they are interpreting like any normal person would.

Antonin Scalia is a Harvard Law School graduate who served as the Assistant Attorney General for presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, who was later appointed by Ronald Reagan as a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He is responsible for developing the method of textualism. He states that “Strict constructionism is a degraded form of textualism that brings the whole philosophy [of textualism] into disrepute.” This means that judges should not interpret the constitution too closely and should be deciding what the phrases as a whole, not just the words, mean. Textualism was used in the recent case of K-Mart vs. Cartier. These two companies debated over the meaning of “of foreign manufacturers”. Some may think that this phrase means “manufactured by a foreigner” rather than “manufactured in a foreign country”, but using the process of textualism, the supreme court decided that these words plainly mean “manufactured

United States where Watson believed that someone who “uses a firearm” in relation to a drug trafficking crime should not be accused of physically using the weapon. The defendant had offered to trade a gun for cocaine. In this scenario, the defendant didn’t actually use the gun, they just traded it. A textualist was needed to straighten this issue out and to establish that the defendant should not be charged with illegal use of weapons. Article Ⅰ section 8 of the constitution states “ The Congress shall have power… To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.” Textualism has been used to simplify what this means and make it more understandable. This article means that the government has the power to make all necessary and proper laws to make sure powers are balanced. Textualism is one of the many ways the Constitution is interpreted. It uses the ordinary meanings of the phrases, not the words in the Constitution. Other methods of interpreting the Constitution include originalism, strict constructionism, loose constructionism, prudentialism, and structuralism. Textualism has proved to be a very significant process for interpreting the constitution that will be used for years to