Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Now That's Citing the Founding Fathers

All of you who have ever wanted to score points in constitutional interpretation by citing the views of the Framers, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli shows how this is done, setting what must be the record for citing the opinion of the most Founding Fathers in the same sentence:
I would like to point out that in the Washington administration the president confronted the question with respect to whether to recognize the revolutionary government of France. President Washington consulted with his Cabinet, and of course his Cabinet included Jefferson and Madison and Hamilton and Jay. And they decided that this was a power that was exclusive to the president.
Who, exactly, are you going to cite to overrule the authors of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers, all at once?

(The case concerns whether Congress could order the President to make the passports of US citizens who were born in Jerusalem say that they were born in Israel.)

No comments: