Originally posted by Daniel David:
Netpub, answer the question. Who interprets the constitution with authority?
I believe it is every US citizen's duty to study and "interpret" the US Constitution, just as much as it is the job of three branches of our government. As a citizen, while serving jury duty, I have the power to rule in favor of the Constitution over the laws if I feel those laws are unconstitutional.
Justice Scalia explained that he, like James Madison, fourth president and framer of the Constitution, interprets the Constitution according to the "common sense" meaning and definition of the document's words at the time they were written. This is the only proper way to interpret the Constitution.
An opposite approach, Scalia suggested from that applied by Justices who believe the Constitution "changes from age to age in order to meet the needs of a changing society." This is a dangerous way to interpret the Constitution, sometimes called the "living Constitution" view, allowing for flexible interpretations molded to meet the changing times.
When the US citizens give up their duty to "protect and defend" the US Constitution, and blindly allow the government to use a "living Constitution" interpretation of the Constitution, they are letting the government not only destroy the Constitution, but destroy their rights granted by God, that are supposed to be protected by the Constitution and the government. In our state of Florida, when we registered to vote we signed an oath to "protect and defend the US Constitution", I would guess that the majority of the registered voters have violated that oath, simply through their ignorance of the US Constitution and how to interpret it.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." -- Thomas Jefferson