Professor views Constitution as living document

Modern constitutional debate is fueled by politics, the law scholar said.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The U.S. Constitution must be a living document, one that is able to address issues of the current time, Dr. Robert Bennett told a crowd at Youngstown State University's Kilcawley Center.
Bennett, professor of law at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., also is a professional arbiter and is considered a scholar on the Constitution.
He was a guest speaker Monday for YSU's Constitution Day celebration.
He said constitutional debate in modern times is fueled by politics rather than by a genuine concern for what the document says.
Two viewpoints
Bennett spoke about two views used by constitutional debaters -- the originalist view and the living view.
He said the originalist challenges constitutional law based on what they think the original founders of the Constitution meant, and attempt to fit current issues into those beliefs.
Those who believe the Constitution is a living document believe it must change with the issues and circumstances of the current time.
"You do the best you can with the knowledge you have at the time," Bennett said. "A living Constitution is inevitable. We cannot have a constitutional law that stands still."
Bennett said originalists run into trouble trying to follow a strict interpretation of the Constitution based on what they think the originators meant because the document is often broad and ambiguous.
Room for debate
There are many areas where the Constitution's language leaves a lot of room for debate and many different answers, he said.
An example of one such area, Bennett said, is the language regarding the Electoral College in election of the U.S. president.
He said the Constitution simply states that the Electoral College members meet to cast their votes. It gives no direction, however, about how they are to cast their votes, nor for whom.
"So, are electors then free to vote for candidates other than those they are pledged to?" Bennett asked.
The question of how the Electoral College should operate based on constitutional law is the topic of Bennett's new book, "Taming the Electoral College," which will be published in May.
He also is the author of "Talking it Through: Puzzles of American Democracy,"
Bennett teaches law courses in constitutional law, contracts and legislation. He was dean of Northwestern's law school from 1985 to 1995.
Co-founder of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, he has served on the Illinois Task Force on Crime and Correction and the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Committee of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University.
tullis@vindy.com