See also: constitution

English edit

Proper noun edit

the Constitution

  1. (law) The supreme law of some countries, such as Australia, Ireland, and the United States.
    The Constitution is anchored in English liberal thought and the Magna Carta.
    The US Constitution was written in 1787.
    • 1978, Richard Nixon, RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon[1], Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 419:
      As the search continued, I developed five criteria for the selection process. The next Chief Justice must have a top-flight legal mind; he must be young enough to serve at least ten years; he should, if possible, have experience both as a practicing lawyer and as an appeals court judge; he must generally share my view that the Court should interpret the Constitution rather than amend it by judicial fiat; and he must have a special quality of leadership that would enable him to resolve differences among his colleagues so that, as often as possible, the Court would speak decisively on major cases with one voice or at least with a strong voice for the majority opinion.
    • 2023 July 5, Mike Pence, 7:52 from the start, in Watch All In With Chris Hayes Highlights: July 6[2], MSNBC, archived from the original on 2023-07-07:
      The Constitution is very clear. My job was oversee the session of Congress where objections could be heard. And I made sure that objections would be recognized, so we would hear whatever evidence and other debate there was. But the Constitution says you open and count the votes, no more no less. The Constitution affords no authority to the Vice President or anyone else to reject votes or return votes to the states.

Derived terms edit