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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
Constitutionalization, Girardeau A. Spann
Constitutionalization, Girardeau A. Spann
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Students of constitutional law tend to suspect pretty early on that the Constitution simply means whatever the Supreme Court says that it means. Rather than fight that intuition, I think it is best to treat the student insight as one of the basic starting assumptions when teaching a course in Constitutional Law. The goal then becomes to help students figure out how best to maneuver and feel comfortable in a legal universe where the Constitution has only contingent meaning.
What the Supreme Court does when it clothes its political policy preferences in the garb of constitutional law can be described …