Our U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, and as the Bill of Rights were ratified in 1791, we technically had the beginning of the “Codified Constitution”. As future Amendments were ratified, these were added to the codified Constitution.
But do not be misled, the Codified Constitution of today contains more than just ratified amendments.
Insights on the history of the profession of law.
Attorneys have been with us, well, since the beginning of time. In the United States, it wasn’t uncommon for attorneys to learn their trade through apprenticeships, as opposed to formal schooling.
In England, the requirement for judges (barristers) to be trained in the law began in 1286. In America, justices-of-the-peace did not have to be attorneys. In 1800 all States allowed for non-attorneys to become judges. By 1900, all 45 states allowed for non-attorneys to serve as judges. Today, 32 states allow non-attorneys to serve as judges, while the U.S. Constitution has no requirement for a Supreme Court Justice to be an attorney.
What impacted this change? Perhaps it was the creation of the American Bar Association in 1878. What started then as theory, for a modern day understanding of constitutional process, began to be memorialized through Progressives like Woodrow Wilson in 1908. Roscoe Pound in 1908 is credited with suggesting that “rules fit cases instead of making cases fit rules”, allowing for case law to be interpreted to the needs of the day.
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr in 1914 states “the life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience” allowing for the constitution to shift with societies norms. Howard Lee McBain’s 1927 book “The Living Constitution” describes the Constitution as being elastic and a “living constitution”, that is constantly being renewed through judicial elucidation. Roosevelt in 1937, wanted to ensure that SCOTUS would build anew on the Constitution ‘a system of living law’.
No wonder then that by 1950, when the Warren Court came into existence, there had been plenty of time to prepare future generations of attorneys with Progressivism values to be able to permeate the courts and their decisions. The Living Constitution is changing our rights, without a Representative process for reaching agreement.
No wonder then, that the Codified Constitution of today, as reflected in a Living Constitution, will not reflect the intentions of “We the People” or our Founding Fathers. We need to take our Constitution back, now.
We are working on a more comprehensive writing of insights, to support why we need to restore the understandings we had 250 years ago. This country is a crown jewel; the original intentions of our Constitution need to be restored.
Please support and spread the word about the project of Convention of Counties.