Dworkinian Law essays

Dworkinian Law essays Dworkinian interpretation is very much like the general interpretation of the constitution, in that not only must law imposersconsider the explicit meanings of the constitution but also their impact and acceptance by society. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education, the court held that it was not constitutional to segregate blacks and whites, but if a strictly explicit view of the constitution was taken segregation would have been in accordance (Altman 85). This brings the human aspect into the equation. With the original meaning or intent an inhumane law would have been upheld. Consider the impacts on our culture if that ruling had been that it was constitutional. Implicit and explicit interpretations are both very important aspects to consider when ruling on a law, a case, or simply an infraction. Though implicit ruling may be viewed as a very liberalist approach to law making, one must consider that the original constitution was meant as a guideline not as a stone clause. By allowing decisions to be made only through the explicit meanings of the constitution, we are allowing the social stature of a two hundred year old society rule in a very different and diverse time. In the revolutionary war, the beginning battles were fought using respectable tactics. This meant standing in a formation and exchanging fire, at an extremely high death rate. Now fighting a war like that in our common day would be ridiculous, virtual suicide. If following the original warrior way is suicide, then why should the judgment of citizens strictly on what those soldiers and scholars wrote explicitly in the constitution be any different. According to Dworkinian theory the constitution should be viewed as an underlying philosophy to law, meaning we should use the words of the constitution as a backbone for the embodiment of law. It is best described as the difference between concepts and conceptions (Altman 84). This ...