Question

Explain what the Supreme Court means in the Village of Euclid when the Court says “a degree of elasticity is thus imparted… to the application of constitutional principles.” (1 point)

Be detailed and site sources.

Answer 1

Justices’ decision should be based upon their understanding of ideas such as freedom, justice and equality, and what they mean today. The way we look at these ideas is very different from the way the Founders looked at them 200 years ago, and the decisions of the Supreme Court must take these differences into account. It is these general, larger goals that the Founders wanted to achieve, and the justices should do their best to adapt them to modern society. Modernists also contend that the Constitution I deliberately vague in many areas, expressly to permit modern interpretations to override older ones as the Constitution ages. It is this interpretation that best embodies the Living Constitution concept: the Constitution is flexible and dynamic, changing slowly over time as the morals and beliefs of the population shift.

^{The Great Experiment (page 233) by Mart Grams.}