Justice Amy Coney Barrett Claimed she will interpret the law in the strictest, most straightforward manner possible based upon the text itself — the plain, precise, literal meaning of the words (textualism) (for Statutes), and the original meaning of the words (originalism) (for Constitutional law) at the time the Framers drafted the document.
Something to consider here— if all judges side with this logic, do we need judges at all? Wouldn’t a machine learning algorithm (post mitigating human biases) accurately predict whether a certain case meets the text of the law or the original meaning of the law? Or do Judges have a higher, more complicated role in decision making.
Given America’s founders were “liberal”- “Christians” in their practice of Christianity… Christ’s teachings may be a fair reference point to understand the role a judge plays in interpreting the law. When asked about the most important commandment, New Testament states “Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. “(Matthew 22:37–40)
So, Did Jesus Interpret the Text of the law as-is? Or did he interpret the original meaning of the law as it was written? Or did he interpret the law based on the spirit of the law — what it meant in his times, without altering the original intent of the law itself? Anyone with some reasoning skills would say Christ interpreted the law based on the spirit of the law and not purely based on the wording or its original meaning.
As it turns out if all judges simply start going back to the original meaning as it was written, a lot of Christians wouldn’t be able to follow the Sunday “Sabbath” or continue enjoying the non-kosher delicacies? Assuming that’s not going to happen, the “machine learning algorithms” may not be fully replacing the role of a judge in the near future…. Unless of course, the concept of law itself changes to something else….
More random thoughts to come.
