Word: constructionistic
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...strong proponent of what he called "the art as well as the science of law," Blackmun began as a self-proclaimed "strict constructionist"--unwilling to see meanings in the constitution far outside the letter of the document...
...Nixon thought he had appointed a "strict constructionist," a conservative jurist who would read the law narrowly. But over his 24 years on the court, Blackmun showed his independence -- reliably conservative on law-and-order issues, while increasingly concerned with the practical impact of his decisions, putting victims' needs first and trumpeting the rights of individuals over the state. "Like Harry Truman, Harry Blackmun really grew in office," notes TIME senior reporter Alain Sanders, who covered Blackmun during much of the Justice's career. "Early on he was viewed as second-rate, the Minnesota twin of Warren Burger," Sanders notes...
...become a badge of credibility. She had better have reported the crime right away, before taking the hours-long shower that she craves, before burning her clothes, before curling up with the blinds down. And she would do well to be a woman of shining character. Otherwise the strict constructionist definitions of rape will prevail in court. "Juries don't have a great deal of sympathy for the victim if she's a willing participant up to the nonconsensual sexual intercourse," says Norman Kinne, a prosecutor in Dallas. "They feel that many times the victim has placed herself...
Although Bush claims to be a "strict constructionist" when it comes to the Constitution -- meaning that he respects the original intentions of those who wrote the document -- he prefers to emphasize the passage that designates the President as Commander in Chief of the armed forces. Many Presidents have relied on that provision to initiate quick military action without congressional approval. Bush's staff members like to point out that in the country's 200-year history, Presidents have sent American soldiers abroad 211 times, though Congress has declared war on only six occasions.* But those expeditions rarely involved massive troop...
...Souter won't graft current ideas or social concerns onto constitutional law." In a dissent he wrote in 1986, Souter said "the court's interpretive task is to determine the meaning of . . . ((constitutional language)) as it was understood when the framers proposed it." A judge cannot be more strict constructionist than that. On the other hand, Roe v. Wade does constitute precedent, another principle the conservative Souter holds dear. Says Fink: "He really reveres the law. He's not someone who's coming from his personal opinions and then twists the law accordingly...