Constitution+DayRTK412

While attempting to become the Republican candidate for President in 2008, Fred Thompson said, "//I do not believe the Constitution is a **living, breathing document**. I am committed to appointing strict constructionist judges to the bench if I am elected President, strict constructionists who believe the Constitution has a fixed meaning that can be applied to cases that come before the courts today. They do NOT believe the Constitution is a living, breathing document, whose meaning, constantly changing with the sifting sands of our culture, can be determined and applied by unelected judges."//

Al Gore made the following statement while running for President in 2000: //"I would look for justices of the Supreme Court who understand that our Constitution is a **living and breathing document**, that it was intended by our founders to be interpreted in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people.//"

Who was right?

Prove that the Constitution should be a "living and breathing" document or Prove that the Constitution should not be a "living and breathing" document

Your answer and evidence is due on Friday. It will be a phone call to one of the signers explaining to them how the Constitution should be interpreted today. It will be between :55sec and 1:05 minutes long. You can work in a group or by yourself.

Directions for recording the phone call (It will not cost you one cent)


 * __**0:00-0:15 Small Talk and What is the Constitution**__
 * Say hello and make small talk about things going on in the person's life. List a few things you could talk about with your person.

1 Hey Samuel Adams, how was being the 4th governor of Massachusetts?

2 How was growing up in Boston?

3 It must have been cool going to college so close to home at Harvard.

Remind him what the Constitution is

1 The Constitution is a document of laws and principles made to help run the United States.

2 It created a federal union and a federal government.

3 It is the basic structure of the United States.**

=**__0:15-0:30__**=

1 It is living and breathing document because it tells us how bills become laws.
 * Why is it "living or breathing?" or Why is it not "living and breathing?"

2 It tells us how to structure our government.

3 It says that states can't declare war.**

=**__0:30-0:45__**=

1 In article 1, section 7- It talks about the process of bills becoming laws.
 * What is your proof?

2 Article 1- It states the three branches of government and term lengths for presidents and senators.

3 Article 1, section 10- It states that one state can't declare war on another country. So that one state does not stand alone in war.**

=**__0:45-1:00__**= The Constitution had begun being written May 25,1787 and was signed on September 17, 1787. It took them one summer to write the Constitution. There were 55 signers on the Constitution.

work cited- http://wiki.answers.com/, http://www.wikipedia.org/, http://www.usconstitution.net/constquick.html || I think that the Constitution is a living and breathing document because its laws a repeatedly being enforced all over the country. The Constitution states the terms of office and the age limits for office. It tells our nation how to structure our government. We use these statements over and over all the time. It states the penalties for breaking the law while in office and how presents can be removed from office. It says how states can not declare war on another country so one state doesn't stand alone in war. The Constitution is still being changed to this day. The Constitution had begun being written on May 25, 1787 and was signed on September 17, 1787. There were 55 signers on the Constitution.