<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The original text of the Constitution of the United States of America, written over 200 years ago, constitutes the supreme source of law in the American legal system. The seven articles and twenty seven amendments dictate understanding of fundamental principles of the federation’s functioning and its citizens’ rights. The paper aims to present the evolution of the U.S. Constitution’s language interpretation as provided by its final interpreter - the Supreme Court of the United States. Example of the Second Amendment will be analyzed to present the change in understanding of the language grammar and, as a consequence, the sense of the right to keep and bear arms in the light of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of District of Columbia v Heller (554 U.S. 570 (2008)). It will argue for the accuracy of statement of Charles Evans Hughes, former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is...”</abstract>

The original text of the Constitution of the United States of America, written over 200 years ago, constitutes the supreme source of law in the American legal system. The seven articles and twenty seven amendments dictate understanding of fundamental principles of the federation’s functioning and its citizens’ rights. The paper aims to present the evolution of the U.S. Constitution’s language interpretation as provided by its final interpreter - the Supreme Court of the United States. Example of the Second Amendment will be analyzed to present the change in understanding of the language grammar and, as a consequence, the sense of the right to keep and bear arms in the light of the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of District of Columbia v Heller (554 U.S. 570 (2008)). It will argue for the accuracy of statement of Charles Evans Hughes, former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: “We are under a Constitution, but the Constitution is what the judges say it is...”

Living or Dead? Specifics of the Language of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The original text of the Constitution of the United States of America, written over 200 years ago, constitutes the supreme source of law in the American legal...

Living or Dead? Specifics of the Language of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Published Online: Nov 05, 2014

Page range: 123 - 136

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2014-0035

Keywords
U.S. Constitution, Second Amendment, originalism, gun control laws, U.S. Supreme Court

© Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Living or Dead? Specifics of the Language of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Published Online: Nov 05, 2014

Page range: 123 - 136

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/slgr-2014-0035

KeywordsU.S. Constitution, Second Amendment, originalism, gun control laws, U.S. Supreme Court

© Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
U.S. Constitution, Second Amendment, originalism, gun control laws, U.S. Supreme Court