European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 07, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 10 the stars and stripes saturday. December 7, 1985 columns James Kilpatrick contemporary interpretation is. Original intention rec to Kuks have seen a remarkable Exchange of views Bolh novel and  .uii.tting, on the Rule of he supreme c tin i is final arbiter of constitutional question. In one Corner we have the conservative attorney  l a in a Csc in the Oiher Corner inc Liberal Justice William Brennan. In this dispute. Melesc is Diphl As \ matter of principle Brennan is right a a Nutter of fact. The argument has been raping for Al least a Hundred years though sitting justices rare have debated it beyond their courtroom. In deciding constitutional questions should the court abide by the intentions of the framers and the ratify ing , As far As these intentions can be determined or should it apply contemporary social and moral values instead a Csc holds to the conservative View. He advocates a doctrine of jurisprudence tint places a High value on original in  Brennan argues thai such a position is Little More than arrogance clocked As  it is arrogant to pretend that from our Vantage we can gauge accurately the in tent of the framers on application of Prin Ciple lit specific contemporary questions. All Loo often sources of potential enlightenment such As records of the ratification debates provide sparse or ambiguous Evi Dence of the original into lion. Typically All thai can be gleaned is Hal the framers themselves did nol agree about the application or meaning of particular constitutional provisions and hid their differences to cloaks of generality Brennan says. This being so Brennan concludes the ultimate question must be whal do inc words of the text mean in our time the Genius of the Constitution in his View Resis nol in any Static meaning it might have had in a world Hal is dead and gone but the adaptability of its great principles to Cope with current problems and current  Brennan is quite right when he speak of the cloaks of generality in which inc Constitution is garbed. What is meant by such Crim As general welfare contracts. Necessary proper extraordinary fur ther in the amendments what is meant Carl Rowan four4pln6 father if you approve what we re it Flag rap twice by establishment abridge Freedom unreasonable Liberty due process Public use speedy and Public trial Brennan is quite wrong however in exaggerating the difficulty in determining original  to cite a specific example the framers and ratifying Stales clearly saw nothing unconstitutional in capital punishment As such. The fifth amendment itself Speaks of capital crimes. Brennan takes the fixed and immutable View that in forbidding cruel and unusual punishments the eighth amendment today forbids capital punish ment. But in this View we see nol Brennan the interpreter but Brennan the amender. Lie proposed to substitute his personal View of compassionate social policy for the Plain language of the Constitution. Who then is being arrogant another example the same Congress that submitted the 14th Amend ment simultaneously provided for racially segregated schools in the District of co Lumbia. Most of inc states Hal ratified that amendment followed the same prac Tice. Eight years Lacr. 17 slates still Hud segregated schools. If we apply the Home by Rule that the proof of a pudding is in in eating it is intellectually impossible to believe that throughout this period every Congress and every such slate wilfully violated the Constitution. Eric Sci acid. In Art interview with jus lice Hugo Black Unce noted that rot a comma had been changed in the 14th amendment Between its ratification in 1868 and inc Brown school Case in 1954. Black tented his hands and rocked Back in his chair. No. Or. Sevareid he said the Constitution had t changed but the judges had  and there you have in. What Brennan advocates no matter How he cloaks Hij rationalization in lofty language is a policy by which non elected justices holding their offices for life May rewrite the Constitution in the Guise of contemporary  this usurps the amending Power that is constitutionally vested in Congress and the Stales. The doctrine is indefensible. It is also 3 fact of life. 1c 1985 univ Al Porcu Syndicate pendulum May be swinging the democrats Way that democratic sweep in which virginians put Gerald Balics into the so Alehouse. Chose a Black Man As lieutenant governor and a woman As attorney general carries a powerful message to America. The perplexing by conservative stale has Given notice that the emerging Republican majority has nol emerged and that voters arc nol buying the reactionary anti civil rights Agenda of president Reagan and attorney general Edwin Mccase Iii. Virginia has served notice that the democrats not Only May gain scats in the House of representatives a Cal year but May also regain control of the Senlac. Those Virginia Csc cimons ought to give new heart to inc dispirited dam Coralic National committee for they prove anew the old Maxim Hal every sickness Ain t Dalh. And every goodbye Ain l gone " that is. If democrats behave nationally inc Way they did in Virginia. Slate sen. L. Douglas Wilder a 54-year-old lawyer became the first Black person in the deep South to be elected to statewide office since the reconstruction period following the civil War. He got 52 Percini of inc Voles for attorney general. Thai would be a remarkable Story in any slate of the old confederacy bul in is doubly remarkable in Virginia. Richmond Wilder s Home town was the Cradle of the confederacy. Virginia tried massive resistance loss preme court decrees outlawing school segregation and some counties in the old Dominion arc still resisting. Virginia has sent to the Congress some of the most conserva Tive representatives and senators in Capri Vii. So Why this dam Coralic sweep i Low could Wilder win answer no. I guv. Charles s. Robb the out going governor ineligible fur another term was at first warned by his closest advisers and jul Side buddies the it to have a Black Man and a while woman on the ticket would produce a catastrophe for inc democratic i univ Over time As Wilder proved that he could win Robb showed that he understood the complaints of Black that we c they were Bedrock supporters of the parly and White candidates White democratic leaders in the South tended to look the other Way when a Black sough a scat in Congress or a statewide office. Robb Fin ill supported Wilder emphatically and threw the " machinery behind him. Cursed Wilder. Incredibly Wilder not Only carried Richmond bul he cited Early returns showing he also won some mostly White areas including chichi Star s own Bailiwick in inc Nisi congressional District. No ii the criminal s interest Al  the Back senator of years knew what he had do. He had to or the n5 a n"n8 i " Slemc old p Imi Wilder s Campaign chairman Paul Goldman effective polic Lical thrusts of All time. It fctiuml"1, police official named Joe Alder from ahle town Ell Pembridge. To looked like he had jus sep id of of 1967 Sidney  Steiger movie in the i in i a k  this White Deputy sheriff spoke few T Friend flaw and order Doug Wilder was my i t lha the fraternal order of policemen in Kugima hav co uralic nor Republican leaders on the ,. Jul " als serves notice thai the move political Equality for women is not dead in America i j a. Null ill la Uluvalu in Lold leu. 1 think thai in this surprising outcome in Virginia we  seen the political pendulum swing Back in such dramatic Way Hal democrats can salivate joyously into he fall of l 6. C i96s Newt America synth Cale h i chef