Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2001
Abstract
Inside the courts, one might distinguish between constitution-talk and justice-talk on the ground that the former, but not the latter, results in enforceable legal judgments. So, inside the courts, we might interpret the Constitution with justice in mind, but what we do is produce legally enforceable judgments. Outside the courts, however, it might seem that all we do is interpret and talk. It is not immediately obvious that cloaking justice-talk as constitution-talk outside the courts has much rhetorical force. As I will argue, the fact that invoking the Constitution outside the courts, in the course of discussing justice, does have some rhetorical force helps to provide a clue to the distinction between constitution-talk and justice-talk.
Publication Citation
69 Fordham L. Rev. 1999-2006 (2001)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Tushnet, Mark V., "Constitution-Talk and Justice-Talk" (2001). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 227.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/227