"Rigid constitutions cannot guarantee that their provisions will be perpetually valid and applicable."
"Rigid constitutions cannot guarantee that their provisions will be perpetually valid and applicable."
The enduring and invariable nature of our Constitution has been a boon and a bane to our legal and political institutions. As the Constitution serves to withstand changes through the years, it is a solid foundation of basic rights and liberties, government powers and duties, and national policies. However, this obsession about the law’s stability precludes our legal system to adapt to certain inevitable changes which, if considered, would be more beneficial to all.
Our Constitution is rigid. It cannot be amended by the same process used in enacting statutory laws but follows a special procedure provided for in the Constitution itself. The United States Constitution is likewise rigid. However, this did not hinder the US government from introducing amendments to it.
The US Constitution has undergone 27 amendments since 1789. The first ten amendments were passed due to the perceived lack of enumeration of basic civil rights and liberties, which now comprise the US Bill of Rights. These stemmed from the consciousness of the citizens and national leaders on the weakness and wrongness of old rules. An example is the Quartering Act of 1765 which required Americans to give food and lodging to British soldiers. This was later on modified by the enactment of the Third Amendment which prohibited housing of soldiers without the consent of the owners. Amendments were also introduced as a response to previous Supreme Court decisions such as the case of Chisholm v. Georgia (1793) wherein the Court allowed a suit filed by an individual against the state of Georgia. The Eleventh Amendment was then ratified to uphold state sovereignty and prevent courts from hearing such lawsuits against states.
The 13th Amendment was perhaps the most notable one as it outlawed slavery. The 19th Amendment in 1920 finally allowed and upheld the right of women to vote after the many years spent by the women's suffrage movement to champion equal rights to suffrage.
Evidently, these amendments were introduced primarily as a result of historical and social developments in the US that necessitated change in the system.
In my opinion, our Constitution was reactive in application and tenor to the administration preceding it. Looking at it now, we have to accept that there are provisions which are outdated and which must be corrected to address the changing times.
The words of Benjamin Franklin’s Articles of Confederation in Article XII still ring true, “As all new institutions may have imperfections, which only time and experience can discover, it is agreed, that the General Congress, from time to time, shall propose such Amendments of this Constitution as may be found necessary.” To emphasize, constitutions are not absolutely immutable. Rigid constitutions cannot guarantee that their provisions will be perpetually valid and applicable. Time and experience will reveal weaknesses and flaws in the laws which must be addressed in order to satisfy the demands of the time, which admittedly, are far different from those in 1986.