How Did Thomas Jefferson Influence The Us Constitution
Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer, author of the American Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States, had much influence on the architects of the U.S. Constitution despite being abroad in France as it was being drafted in 1787.1 As London Fell points out, the 1776 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, was influenced by the three drafts submitted to the Virginia Constitution of that year and would later influence his close friend James Madison in his drafts of the U.S. Constitution.2 The U.S. Constitution was enacted in 1789 and commenting on how the U.S. Legal system and Constitution had developed since it's enactment in 1816, Jefferson stated:
“I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes …show more content…
In the U.S. Supreme Court case Missouri v Holland, Oliver Wendall Holmes described the living instrument approach succintly stating “we must realize that they have called into life a being the development of which could not have been foreseen completely by the most gifted of its begetters. It was enough for them to realize or to hope that they had created an organism;”16 Article 40.3 has allowed for many more unspecified rights to be added over the years such as a right to communicate 17 and a right to marry and found a family 18. Judicial review in Ireland has thus allowed the Constitution to grow and develop into a fairer and more accurate reflection of the people's wishes without without needing recourse to the laborious process of constitutional …show more content…
For instance, Dworkin looks towards John Austin's definition of a sovereign. Austin “defined a sovereign as some person or group whose commands are habitually obeyed and who is not in the habit of obeying anyone else.”, but as Dworkin added aspects of this definition have since been disregarded.20 The rule of recognition discussed by HLA Hart in Concepts of Law, argues that Austin's definition it now a two sided coin. On the one hand you have those who are in positions of power and make the law, but they are only empowered with this privelege by the sovereign will of the community at large.21 This duality ensures that judicial power is restrained because citizens would not respect the law if they believed it to be
“I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes …show more content…
In the U.S. Supreme Court case Missouri v Holland, Oliver Wendall Holmes described the living instrument approach succintly stating “we must realize that they have called into life a being the development of which could not have been foreseen completely by the most gifted of its begetters. It was enough for them to realize or to hope that they had created an organism;”16 Article 40.3 has allowed for many more unspecified rights to be added over the years such as a right to communicate 17 and a right to marry and found a family 18. Judicial review in Ireland has thus allowed the Constitution to grow and develop into a fairer and more accurate reflection of the people's wishes without without needing recourse to the laborious process of constitutional …show more content…
For instance, Dworkin looks towards John Austin's definition of a sovereign. Austin “defined a sovereign as some person or group whose commands are habitually obeyed and who is not in the habit of obeying anyone else.”, but as Dworkin added aspects of this definition have since been disregarded.20 The rule of recognition discussed by HLA Hart in Concepts of Law, argues that Austin's definition it now a two sided coin. On the one hand you have those who are in positions of power and make the law, but they are only empowered with this privelege by the sovereign will of the community at large.21 This duality ensures that judicial power is restrained because citizens would not respect the law if they believed it to be