A Quote by Richard Posner

The Constitution has to be interpreted loosely, otherwise it becomes a straitjacket. You can't interpret it literally. You can pretend to, and go digging around in 18th Century dictionaries to figure out what 'cruel and unusual punishment' meant or what the 'right to bear arms' meant, but that is all fake really. The Constitution has to be interpreted in light of modern needs, and that's what they (the strict interpreters) end up doing in spite of all their investigations.

Richard Posner

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Arms Around Bear Becomes Century Constitution Cruel Cruel And Unusual Punishment Digging Doing End Fake Figure Go Interpret Interpreted Investigations Light Literally Loosely Meant Modern Needs Otherwise Out Pretend Punishment Really Right Right To Bear Arms Spite Strict Unusual Up

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Richard Posner
American - Lawyer
Born: January 11, 1939

And it never, ever was interpreted that the Second Amendment meant individual's right to bear arms

Rosie O'Donnell

We need to put people on the bench that understand the Constitution is not a living and breathing document. It is to be interpreted as originally meant.

Marco Rubio

It [the Constitution] didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it's been interpreted, and the Warren court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can't do to you, it says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn't shifted.

Barack Obama

Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the constitution is a Glorious Liberty Document!

Frederick Douglass

Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a glorious liberty document. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gateway? or is it in the temple? It is neither.

Frederick Douglass

The Constitution of the United States of America clearly affirms the right of every American citizen to bear arms. And as Americans, we will not give up a single right guaranteed under the Constitution.

Malcolm X

The NRA believes America's laws were made to be obeyed and that our Constitutional liberties are just as important today as 200 years ago. And by the way, the Constitution does not say Government shall decree the right to keep and bear arms. The Constitution says 'The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'

Ronald Reagan

I am a forthright defender of the right to bear arms - which is guaranteed not only by the U.S. Constitution, but by the Constitution of Arizona.

Doug Ducey

I used to say that the Constitution is not a living document. It's dead, dead, dead. But I've gotten better. I no longer say that. The truth is that the Constitution is not one that morphs. It's an enduring Constitution, not a changing Constitution. That is what I've meant when I've said that the Constitution is dead.

Antonin Scalia

I believe that justices must recognize that our Constitution is an 18th-century document that needs to be applied in the context of the 21st century.

Frank Lautenberg

Judge Laurence Silberman explains the origins of his ruling against the ban on handguns in Washington, D.C. He explains, 'It wasn't a right to bear arms granted by the Constitution, it was a right that was protected by the Constitution.'

Laurence Silberman

In recent years it has been suggested that the Second Amendment protects the "collective" right of states to maintain militias, while it does not protect the right of "the people" to keep and bear arms... If anyone entertained this notion in the period during which the Constitution and Bill of Rights were debated and ratified, it remains one of the most closely guarded secrets of the 18th century, for no known writing surviving from the period between 1787 and 1791 states such a thesis.

Stephen Halbrook

We have laws against torture. The Constitution says nothing whatever about torture. It speaks of punishment; 'cruel and unusual' punishments are forbidden.

Antonin Scalia

It is the right to bear arms which is the problem. I think if the Founding Fathers knew what was happening they would be turning in their graves with embarrassment at how that law has been interpreted.

Liam Neeson

In 'The Heritage Guide to the Constitution,' you find a most remarkable collection of scholarly work. Over a hundred people have contributed to explaining what the Constitution says, what it means, how it has been interpreted over the years, and how it is important to people today.

Edwin Meese

Over the years, the judiciary has expanded its own powers by creative interpretations of the Constitution, particularly Article 21 which guarantees the right to life. This has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to include the right to a healthy environment, to health, primary education, livelihood and shelter.

Prashant Bhushan

A Quote by Richard Posner

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